Pirates attack Singaporean boat, two crew
missing
KUALA LUMPUR : Pirates armed with machine guns have fired on a
Singapore-registered ship in the Malacca Strait and kidnapped two
crew, a Malaysian maritime official said Saturday.
About 20 heavily-armed pirates attacked the De Ena Sovereign tug
boat on Wednesday as it was pulling a barge from Singapore to the
Indian port of Mumbai, International Maritime Bureau regional
manager Noel Choong told AFP.
"We do not know the fate of the two crew members - the captain and
chief engineer. The kidnappers have not contacted the tug owner in
Singapore," he said.
Choong said the pirates were in two fishing boats when they
launched the attack under the cover of darkness.
They first fired on the boat, forcing it to stop, before boarding
it.
"The pirates seized the ship's documents, the crew's travel
documents and other valuables," he said, adding that the remaining
10 crew members had sailed to northern Penang state.
No one was injured during the incident.
Since late 2003 there has been a steady increase in attacks and
kidnappings in the area, especially in the northern Malacca Strait
and along the coast of Aceh, an Indonesian island troubled by
separatist violence, Choong said.
"We have no information who is behind the attacks. It could be
anybody - Aceh rebels, criminal syndicates or terrorists groups,"
he added.