A court in Malaysia sentenced nine Indonesian nationals to ten years in prison and one stroke with a rotan cane for the hijacking and the armed robbery of the Malaysia-flagged chemical tanker MT Sun Birdie off Pengerang in January 2015, local media reports.
The Kota Tinggi Sessions court charged the men, aged between 26 and 48, under section 397 of Malaysia’s Penal Code for gang robbery.
As World Maritime News reported at the time, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) received information from the ship’s owner that the company lost contact with the vessel on January 28.
The last known position of the Malaysia-flagged tanker was approximately 1 nautical mile south of Tanjung Ayam, Malaysia.
Less than 24 hours later, the MMEA detected the tanker off Tanjung Penawar, and recovered it.
The MMEA arrested seven of the hijackers who were found on board the tanker, as well as two of the men who jumped overboard, and were picked up by a passing tanker.
At the time of the hijacking, Sun Birdie was laden with 700 metric tons of Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) and had a total of 11 crew on board (eight Myanmar nationals and three Indonesians), according to ReCAAP ISC.
World Maritime News Staff; Image: MMEA