MT Orkim Harmony, the fuel-laden Malaysian tanker that “disappeared” off the east coast of Johor last Thursday has been detected in Cambodian waters, according to Chief of Navy Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar says a report in Bernama.
Abdul Jaafar said the tanker had been repainted and renamed. The tanker was being tailed from the air by aircraft of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), national news agency Bernama quoted Aziz as saying.
The Malaysian-registered tanker was laden with 6,000 tonnes of RON95 petrol worth RM21 million when it went missing on June 12, while sailing from Malacca to Kuantan Port.
“We have found the vessel and RMAF, MMEA and RAAF aircraft are tailing it from the air,” he told Bernama.
Local newspaper the New Straits Times reported that a senior navy official who was directly involved in the search efforts said the lead was following a sighting of the ship by an Australian aircraft.
The vessel, owned by Magna Meridian Sdn Bhd, had 22 crew on board, 16 of them Malaysians and the rest Indonesian and Myanmar nationals.