The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) recovered the chemical tanker Sun Birdie, reported to be missing on Wednesday, and arrested seven hijackers found onboard the vessel, ReCaap Information Sharing Centre reports.
MMEA received information from the ship’s owner that the company lost contact with the vessel at around 10 pm local time, Wednesday. The last known position of the Malaysia-flagged tanker was approximately one nautical mile south of Tanjung Ayam, Malaysia.
At the time of the hijacking, Sun Birdie was laden with 700 metric tons of Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) and had a total of 11 crew on board (eight Myanmar nationals and three Indonesians), according to ReCAAP ISC.
The vessel was recovered off Tanjung Penawar, Malaysia, at around 11 pm local time, Thursday.
Two hijackers reportedly jumped overboard but were picked up by a passing tanker, and will be handed over to MMEA.
Sun Birdie was brought to Penggerang for further investigation.
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