A Malaysian-owned bunker tanker has reportedly been hijacked in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS).
The Vier Harmoni (built 2004) was said to have been hijacked and taken into Indonesian waters, according to Malaysian maritime authorities.
The Indonesian-flagged vessel was said to be carrying 900,000 liters of diesel when it sailed from Tanjung Pelepas.
Unconfirmed reports say the vessel is now in waters off the Indonesian island of Batam. However, Indonesian authorities said that so far there was no indication the tanker had entered Batam.
This is only the third hijacking of a vessel for its cargo in the in the SOMS so far in 2016 compared with 55 incidents in the first half of 2015.
The previous two incidents involved the 5,400-dwt Hai Soon 12 (built 1993) in May and the tug Ever Prosper towing the barge Ever Dignity in early June.
Prior to today’s incident authorities had said there had been a marked improvement in the piracy and armed robbery situation in Asia with the largest decrease in number of incidents during January-June 2016 compared to the same period in the past four years of 2012-2015.
