A Japanese vessel was robbed by five men, two armed with pistols and one with a machete, about 16 nautical miles from Pulau Ketam, near Port Klang, yesterday.
Marine police say the 1am incident saw the robbers siphon off two million litres of diesel fuel from the ship, and abduct three of the 18 crew members on board. The Japanese vessel was en route from Singapore to Myanmar with a cargo of five million litres of diesel.
Port Klang Marine Police commanding officer DSP Norzaid Muhammad Said told Bernama the robbbers siphoned off the fuel and transferred them to two tankers, in a process that likely took between seven and eight hours. They did this after tying up the ship’s crew.
Norzaid said the captain freed himself and reported the robbery to the Singaporean diesel supplier.
The supplier then lodged a report at the Johor Baharu police station, which relayed the information to marine police in Port Klang.
“We sent our personnel to the location and found the Japanese vessel at Pulau Angsa. The ship was brought to the North Port here for further investigation,” he said.
Norzaid said the captain and crew remaining on the vessel did not suffer any injury.
