By Jite Eriabie
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said on Friday that a vessel carrying about 3,700 ton of palm oil had been robbed in the waters near Indonesia.
MMEA said it received report by a Malaysian company that Ever Omega, a barge it owned, was hijacked in the waters near Indonesia on Wednesday.
The barge, along with tugboat Ever Prosper, was sailing from Bintulu in the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak to Penang off the Malay Peninsula when it was robbed by a group of machete-wielding pirates in wee hours, said the statement.
The six crew members on the barge and the four crew on the tugboat were tied up by the robbers, who took away the barge but left the tugboat behind. The crew on the tugboat later managed to free themselves and sailed the ship toward water off Malaysia’s southern Johor state, the statement said.
MMEA said it had since requested assistance from the Indonesian authorities and was informed on Thursday that the barge Ever Omega had been found, but the cargos on the ship worth around 18.5 million ringgit (4.5 million U.S. dollar) were believed to be robbed.
Based on the record, it is the fourth time that the ships owned by the company were robbed, said MMEA, adding that around 5,449 tons of palm oil were robbed in two incidents in 2016.
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