The crew of the product tanker Orkim Victory was taken hostage after their vessel was hijacked by pirates eight nautical miles off the coast of Pu Aur, Malaysia, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB)’s Piracy Reporting Centre.
The tanker carrying petroleum was under way from Sungai Udang to Kuantan, Malaysia, when the 7,119 dwt vessel was boarded by armed men.
The vessel was boarded in the South China Sea off Pulau Aur, Malaysia and had its oil cargo siphoned off. The attack was held east of Mersing, off Malaysia in the South China Sea.
According to an ICC CCS report: "They took hostage all crew members, altered course and sailed the vessel until it rendezvoused with another vessel into which part of the oil cargo was transferred and stolen."
The armed group also damaged all communication equipment in Orkim Victory and stole the property of crew and ship.
"The ship safely arrived (in) Kuantan at 7pm yesterday (Thursday)," said MMEA C3i (Command, Control, Communication and Information) director Capt (Maritime) Hamid Mohd Amin.
He added that there were 18 crew members on board at the time, and that they were safe.
The pirates, Hamid said, fled to Pulau Matek in the Anambas Islands region, Indonesia
Orkim Victory, Malaysian-flagged product tanker, built in 2009, is operated by Malaysia’s Orkim Shipmanagement
The product tanker Orkim Victory has overall length of 112.00 m, moulded beam of 18.00 m and maximum draft of 7.00 m. The deadweight of the 7,119 DWT and gross tonnage 5,036 GRT. The product tanker was built in 2009 by Zhejiang Hongguan Ship Industry in Linhai, China. During the accident the ship was en route from Malacca to Kuantan.
This is the second pirate attack in the South China Sea this week. On June 3 the Indonesian-flagged timber carrier KM Mutiara was also hijacked. Crew members were forced to jump overboard as the pirates made off with the ship and its cargo. The location of the ship is still unknown.