Vessel with RM18.5m palm oil hijacked
Published on: Saturday, November 25, 2017
Kuching: A vessel carrying 3,700 tonnes of palm oil valued at about RM18.5 million from Bintulu to Butterworth was robbed in the waters of Singkawang, Indonesia on Wednesday (Nov 22).Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Deputy Director-General (Operation) Vice Admiral Maritime Datuk Mohd Taha Ibrahim said the vessel, Baj Ever Omega, owned by Syarikat Pengangkutan Kekal Sdn Bhd was being towed by tugboat, Ever Prosper, owned by the same company, left Bintulu on Saturday (Nov 18) and was scheduled to arrive in Butterworth on Sunday (Nov 26). He said MMEA was informed Ever Prosper and Baj Ever Omega were missing by Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP) at 7.08pm and by the company at 7.10pm.
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"In the incident at about 4am, the four crew members of Ever Prosper and six crew of Baj Ever Omega were tied up. Baj Ever Omega with its crew comprising five Indonesians and an Indian national were towed by an unidentified tugboat to another location."The tugboat Ever Prosper with four crew were left behind by the pirates and they later freed themselves and sailed to Johor waters," he said in a statement. Mohd Taha said following the complaint, MMEA contacted Indonesian authorities via special communications network, Western Fleet Quick Response (WFQR) which linked Malaysian Maritime operation officers directly with the operation officers of Indonesian Maritime for help to detect and rescue the missing barge."The action was in line with the current Malaysian Maritime operation procedure to combat piracy.
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At the same time, the MMEA Maritime Operation Centre (Pomar) in Putrajaya conducted tracking of the barge via its Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) system. "It was found the Automatic Identification System (AIS) of Ever Prosper had been disabled in the waters of Bintulu on Nov 18 at 7.12pm. The AIS of the boat was reactivated on Nov 23 at 8.39pm in Tanjung Pengelih, Johor," he said.
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He said on Thursday at about 6pm, Indonesian authorities informed MMEA that Baj Ever Omega with its six crew members were found safe but minus the load.He said an MMEA boat from Sedili district maritime in Johor escorted Ever Prosper with its crews to Tanjung Pengelih for further investigations. "Baj Ever Omega will be towed to Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia by a Indonesian military ship. A Putrajaya MMEA forensic team had been sent to Tanjung Pengelih. "MMEA will be investigating the matter with their Indonesian counterparts as the incident took place in Indonesian waters," he said.Meanwhile, Mohd Taha said based on record, this was the fourth palm oil piracy on the company's boats.According to him, there were two incidents last year in the waters of Bintulu on June 3 involving Ever Prosper and Baj Ever Dignity and on Oct 25 involving tugboat Even Ocean Silk and Baj Ever Giant. "In both incidents, the palm oil robbed was about 5,449 tonnes.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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