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Thai
authorities arrest hijacked tug and barge
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| The
Sing Sing Mariner tug and the Kapuas 68 barge were hijacked off Kalimantan
in Indonesia on February 9 |
London,
17 March 2004
- The ICC's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has struck another blow
in the fight against high seas piracy, helping Thai authorities to recover
a hijacked vessel and arrest seven Myanmar nationals in the process.
The Indonesian tug, Sing Sing Mariner, and the barge, Kapuas 68 were both
boarded by Thai navy and marine police officials on Monday.
Acting on information supplied to them by the International Maritime Bureau,
the Thai authorities boarded the two vessels just as their new owners
were in the process of changing the ships' names.
Seven Myanmar nationals have been detained by Thai police. According to
the IMB, they were arrested while attempting to change the names of the
two vessels to Tyson and Tyson V.
The IMB operate the Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre, whose
centralized collection of worldwide piracy data is used widely and often
by national authorities to
pursue, detain and prosecute pirates. "
Captain Pottengal Mukundan, Director of the IMB today congratulated the
Thai authorities on acting swiftly on the intelligence provided to them.
"We congratulate the Royal Thai Navy and the police on the very prompt
and positive action they have taken for a successful recovery, "
he said. "This latest combined effort between the IMB and the Thai
authorities only further underscores the inroads we are making in the
fight against piracy."
The Sing Sing Mariner tug and the Kapuas 68 barge were hijacked off Kalimantan
in Indonesia on February 9.
The Kapuas 68 was laden with 3,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil valued
at USD1.6million.
The tug and barge were seized by four hijackers near Bintan Island. The
crewmembers of the barge were despatched by the hijackers to a nearby
deserted island. They were subsequently rescued by a passing fishing boat.
The intelligence received by the IMB in the ensuing week suggested that
a tug and barge of similar description were in the Gulf of Thailand and
were in the process of changing their identity.
This information was promptly passed over to the Thai authorities who
boarded the vessel and detained seven Myanmar nationals found on board.
According to the IMB, in 2003 alone, there were twelve tugs and barges
hijacked by criminal gangs operating in Southeast Asia.
"These tugs and barges are soft targets for these criminals because
they are moving very slowly and are easy to board and take over,"
explained Captain Mukundan.
The Thai authorities have been previously successful in recovering the
stolen tanker Han Wei in March 2002.
The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre was set up in 1992. It is financed by
voluntary contributions from shipping and insurance companies. One of
the main achievements of the Piracy Reporting Centre is its success rate
in locating hijacked ships. During the past two years there have been
ten serious cases of hijackings. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre was involved
in the search for all the ten ships. Except for one, the other nine ships
have been located and returned to their owners.
The IMB posts weekly updates of piracy attacks and warnings on the Internet.
The address for the weekly report is www.icc-ccs.org
For an interview contact
ICC's Commercial Crime Services on tel +44 208 591 3000.
Following are photographs
of the tug and the barge.
IMB
homepage
ICC
Commercial Crime Services homepage
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