The Royal Thai Navy is working with Malaysian and Singaporean authorities to hunt for a pirate vessel which hijacked a Thai-flagged oil tanker and made off with 1.5 million litres of diesel in Malaysian waters late on Friday night.
The oil tanker CP41 managed to travel on to Nu islet near Cape Samila on the Gulf coast of the southern province of Songkhla some time after the hijacking ended, 2nd Naval Area Command chief Vice Adm Phonchai Pinthong said Monday.
Warnings are being issued to all other oil tankers and cargo ships travelling in the same route to step up security and continue updating their locations to the authorities overseeing marine navigation security, said VAdm Phon Chai.
Constant location updating will help in the event of any new hijackings because it will allow authorities to rapidly send out teams to help the victims, he said.
The hijacking occurred about 9pm on Friday as the CP41 tanker made its way through Malaysian waters, off Kuantan, he said.
The Thai ship, leaving Singapore and carrying 3.5 million litres of oil, was stopped and boarded by about six to seven armed men while sailing north to deliver the cargo in Songkhla, he said.
Before tying up all 17 crew members, robbing them of their personal possessions and stealing about half of the oil, the pirates had attempted to destroy the oil tanker's navigation equipment, communication radio system and the ship security alert system (SSAS) to prevent the crew from sending out a signal for help, he said.
Fortunately, none of the 17 crew members was hurt.
After the pirates made off with the oil and valuables the chief of the crew managed to press the SSAS button requesting for help from the company owning the ship, said Adm Luechai Rutdit, director of the Thailand Maritime Enforcement Coordination Centre (THAI-MECC).
The THAI-MECC then sent out the patrol boat HTMS Takbai to check on the CP 41, said Adm Luechai, adding the centre had already sought cooperation with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Information Fusion Centre and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) in Singapore in the hunt for the pirates.