MMEA Lahad Datu finds hijacked 'Anand 12' barge

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Lahad Datu today found the 'Anand 12' barge which is believed to have been hijacked by the Abu Sayyaf militants on the Philippines waters on March 26.

The barge, registered to tugboat Brahma 12, was found floating about 8.4 nautical miles from the Tun Sharifah Rodziah and 13.7 nautical miles from Tanjung Tunku Malaysian waters.

MMEA Sandakan district director Capt A. Razak Abd Rahman when contacted said the barge is believed to have drifted through Alice channel, Philippines and entered into Malaysian waters.

He said no one was aboard, adding that the barge was laden with 7,000 metric tonne coal when found.

Razak said the barge was then towed back to the Fordeco jetty at Lahad Datu for further investigations.

“MMEA had despatched Kilat 51 and Banggi 35 while the marine police had despatched their PA47 boat to the area once we received information about the drifting tugboat,” he said in a statement today.

“The joint-operation with ESSCOM and marine police began at 10.30am and ended at 1.05pm,” he said.

On March 26, the Indonesian-registered tugboat and barge was hijacked by Abu Sayyaf militants.

Its 10 crew members were also abducted by the militants who are demanding RM5 million for their freedom.