Malaysia has seized a drifting Vietnamese tanker with a single crewman on board.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the 5,000-dwt Viet Tin 01 (built 1995) was boarded by its officials on Sunday after it was found anchored without authorisation just off the southern Malaysian state of Johor.
“Earlier, the agency’s vessel and boat assets...assigned to the site had attempted to contact the tanker via radio and speakers, but no response was received and the vessel was suspected to have been abandoned,” Johor MMEA director Aminuddin Abdul Rashid said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
The only person on board was its 61-year-old Vietnamese chief engineer, who said the vessel had drifted from its original position.
He was detained for further investigations, Rashid said.
The last AIS data showed it at anchor off southern Malaysia, east of Singapore, on 13 August.
Equasis lists it as laid up and owned by Viet Trust Shipping Corp of Ho Chi Minh City.
Viet Trust Shipping Corp did not answer calls made to it by Reuters, which claims Refinitiv shipping data showed the vessel arrived just outside the harbour of Nampo on North Korea’s western coast on 25 February with 2,000 tonnes of gasoline.
It was not clear whether the tanker unloaded cargo at Nampo.
