Foreign hijacked sailors return home safely

Nhan Dan – The authorities of the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province yesterday handed over nine foreign sailors who had been hijacked by pirates on the MT Zafirah vessel to the ship owner and diplomatic missions.

Thursday, December 20, 2012 17:41

Captain of Zafirah tanker expresses his sincere thanks to the local border guard forces.

Earlier, the Malaysia- flagged tanker departed Pasir Gudang for Miri port (Malaysia) on November 16. The ship was then seized by pirates when crossing the waters of Indonesia on November 18.

The ship’s crew was then found aboard their lifeboat, floating in the waters around 120 nautical miles off Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on November 21, by two Vietnamese fishing vessels who took them aboard. The sailors then were transferred to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre Zone 3 (Vungtau MRCC)’s rescue vessel, SAR 413, and arrived on shore safely.

After being informed about the hijack, the Vietnam Marine Police Zone 3 located Zafirah, which had been renamed to Sea Horse by the pirates, approximately 45 nautical miles off Vung Tau. The ship’s 11 hijackers were then arrested by the Vietnamese marine authorities on November 22.

At the handover, the relevant diplomatic missions, ship owner and hijacked sailors expressed their sincere thanks to the local authorities and marine forces for their rescue securing the lives and property of the crew and the ship owner.

The 11 suspects are still under the custody of the local authorities for further investigation.

The crew comprising five Myanmar nationals and four Indonesians were reported to be in good health.