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Friday, June 19, 2015

Malaysian aircraft tracking down tanker hijackers

KUALA LUMPUR - Three aircraft are deployed to track down the escaped hijackers of the MT Orkim Harmony, said Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

Apart from the P3 Orion, C130 and a Beechcraft aircraft, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has tasked three ships and two helicopters to join the search operation.

Abdul Aziz, who is updating the operation through his Twitter account, said the eight hijackers fled the vessel at around 8.30pm on Thursday using its rescue boat.

The 22 crew members on board MT Orkim Harmony were freed at about 2.30am, Friday.

They were all safe except for an Indonesian cook, who was injured due to a gunshot to the thigh.

Abdul Aziz told Bernama that the RMN would investigate the cause of the incident.

The oil tanker, carrying 6,000 tonnes of petrol worth RM21mil, left Malacca on June 11 and went missing soon after.

It was scheduled to arrive at the Kuantan Port at 10.30am the following day but communications with the ship was lost at 8.57pm.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said it was notified at 6.30am the next day that the tanker was missing.

Assets from the RMN, MMEA and Royal Malaysian Air Force were sent to hunt for it.

The vessel, first tracked down by Australian Airforce, was reported to be adrift in Cambodian waters, suddenly changed course to the east towards Natuna Island, Indonesia.

The cargo belongs to Petronas while the ship's owner is Magna Meridian Sdn Bhd.

Authorities confirmed that MT Orkim Harmony had been repainted and renamed 'Kim Harmon' by the pirates.

earlier news ------------------------------------

Hijackers fled in rescue boats during night

Eight hijackers fled the Orkim Harmony ship in a rescue boat late on Thursday. The vessel is now being escorted to a Malaysian port.

All 22 crew members were safe. However, one of them was slightly injured.

The tanker disappeared off the coast of Singapore on 11 June. Reports said it was taken by Indonesian pirates armed with pistols and machetes.

Malaysian navy ships and aircraft are now hunting the fleeing pirates, the authorities say.

It is the second ship hijacked in the area in the last few weeks. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), based in London, has previously warned that piracy is on the rise in South East Asian waters.

After Orkim Harmony was hijacked, the pirates repainted the ship and changed the name to Kim Harmon.

But an air and sea search effort located the tanker near Vietnamese waters late on Wednesday.

Malaysian naval warships then shadowed the ship, urging the pirates to surrender.

Late on Thursday, the pirates fled, abandoning Orkim Harmony.

Malaysian Navy head Abdul Aziz Jaafar said on Twitter that all 22 crew on board were unharmed except an Indonesian cook who is "injured at the thigh due to a gun-shot by the robbers".

Orkim Harmony is now proceeding to Kuantan Port escorted by a Navy ship and will arrive early on Saturday, Mr Jaafar added.

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