MSC Containership, Bulk Carrier Attacked Off Indonesia

A MSC containership and a bulk service have been attacked in two separate however probably associated incidents in Southeast Asia waters off the coast of Indonesia, in accordance with data from the regional ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre.

The two incidents are reported to have occurred inside simply hours of one another within the eastbound lane of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

According to ReCAAP, at about 0100 hours on March 21 4 males boarded the Marshall Islands-registered bulk service MV Capetan Gioris whereas underway roughly 3.8 nautical miles off Tanjung Sengkuang, Batam. Nothing was lacking onboard and the crew was protected.

Later that morning, at roughly 0545 hours, the Luxembourg-registered containership MV MSC Vancouver was boarded by seven males armed with knives and instruments whereas underway about 9 nautical miles northeast of Pulau Karimum Besar. The robbers stole the second engineer’s gold chain and watch earlier than abandoning the vessel.

In each circumstances, the Masters reported the incidents to the Singapore Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) who notified the Singapore Police Coast Guard, Republic of Singapore Navy and Indonesian authorities, and initiated navigational broadcasts to alert mariners in regards to the incidents.

Due to the shut proximity and timing of the incidents, ReCAAP says that there’s a excessive chance that the robbers will proceed to pry on this space over the following few days and urges vessels within the space to take additional precautionary measures.