Hijackers slipped away after warning ships to stay five nautical miles - Navy chief
Astro Awani
June 19, 2015 14:30 MYT
June 19, 2015 14:30 MYT
He said the hijackers had also warned that if their warning was not heeded, they would harm the crew members onboard.
Hijackers escaped authorities after warning them to stay at least five nautical miles away from the tanker, Royal Malaysian Navy chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said.
He said the hijackers had also warned that if their warning was not heeded, they would harm the crew members onboard.
In a press statement, Abdul Aziz said the hijackers took down personal details of the tanker’s caption Nor Fazly Sahat and threatened to harm his family if he disclosed their escape plans.
“The ship captain only informed KD Terengganu about 12.55 midnight, almost five hours after the robbers escaped,” he said.
He said the 22 crew members, comprising 22 Malaysians, five Indonesians and one Myanmar national are safe.
However, the cook, an Indonesian national had sustained gunshot wound to the thigh on June 11. The cook has been flown to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian. He arrived at the hospital at 10.15am today, Abdul Aziz said.
The tanker is being escorted back by KD Handalan and is expected to reach the Kuantan port at about 2am, Saturday.
The tanker, which was first spotted in Cambodian waters on Wednesday after went missing for almost a week, was repainted from blue to black. It was also renamed Kim Harmon.
MT Orkim Harmony was sailing from Malacca to Kuantan when it went missing on June 12. On board the tanker were 22 crewmen comprising 16 Malaysians, five Indonesians and one from Myanmar.