Pirates free Indonesia-bound Thai tanker after cargo theft

[Soutpeel]

Has piracy become this common?

your joking yes ?...Malacca Straits one of the worlds piracy hotspots and has been for a long time

Edited June 2, 2014 by Soutpeel

[Soutpeel]

What's your guess - CIA or KGB?

Aliens

[indyuk]

Worgeordi: No mention of the value or number of tons of diesel oil on board,

maybe it went out empty,and came back empty,now looking to

claim insurance,could that happen in Thailand?

regards Worgeordie

I'd put my money on Worgeordie's explanation. It is so Asian. An old rust bucket chartered to transport valuable cargo through the Straits of Malacca. Who insured the cargo, Was the ship certified to carry cargoes of oil. Why would an isolated buyer in Kalimantan source diesel oil so far away. Diesel always was cheaper in Indonesia, Isn't Kalimantan part of Indonesia?

I too don't believe that the said cargo was ever loaded onto the vessel.

[bangkokpoppys]

What's your guess - CIA or KGB?

Aliens

I'd buy that book!

[Soutpeel]

There are multiple forms of comms on a ship right? And no word gets out during the hours of transfer? Yes bunkering takes place, but if it was a genuine hijack surely word would get out Captain Phillips.

So how does this appear to be a genuine hijacking? What evidence?

I agree with the previous poster - collusion.

Your the expert you tell me Captain Philips...

one suspects this tanker would only have radio, and at the outside possibly a V-sat connection/satellite phone and once you are about 20nm from the nearest cell phone tower, no mobile phones either.

One would expect the vessel to have AIS, but that could be switched off, pretty easy as well, so if this is switched difficult to track the vessel

Evidence for hijack - could this be possibly that they were in one of the words piracy hotspots ?

around that part of the world piracy is a daily occurrence

[Soutpeel]

Worgeordi: No mention of the value or number of tons of diesel oil on board,

maybe it went out empty,and came back empty,now looking to

claim insurance,could that happen in Thailand?

regards Worgeordie

I'd put my money on Worgeordie's explanation. It is so Asian. An old rust bucket chartered to transport valuable cargo through the Straits of Malacca. Who insured the cargo, Was the ship certified to carry cargoes of oil. Why would an isolated buyer in Kalimantan source diesel oil so far away. Diesel always was cheaper in Indonesia, Isn't Kalimantan part of Indonesia?

I too don't believe that the said cargo was ever loaded onto the vessel.

Are you a marine surveyor, customs officer, shipping agent or something ?, your basing your assessment on a picture of a vessel with a bit of rust on the hull..? Jeez..

shipments like this are happening every single day in this neck of the woods

BTW the cost of bulk diesel is pretty much the same every where in the region, the cost differential comes from the taxes imposed by the specific country therefore the cost is cheaper in indo, because the indo government puts less tax on it... the landed cost is pretty much the same in Indo, Singapore, Malaysia, Indo etc...

[Traveling Sailor]

To quote Soutpeel, "The only comment I have about this is the vessel should have AIS installed so they can be tracked, so even if they where hijacked, and the pirates were smart enough to know to switch off the AIS/disable it, last know position would be easy to figure out, bearing and speed."

The key word here is "should". Just like MH370, which "should" have had ............

​Very simple solutions that would have saved tons of money and/or lives, but the companies that own the vessels were/are just too cheap to install the necessary systems. And, since there are no regulations requiring them to, they won't.

[Soutpeel]

To quote Soutpeel, "The only comment I have about this is the vessel should have AIS installed so they can be tracked, so even if they where hijacked, and the pirates were smart enough to know to switch off the AIS/disable it, last know position would be easy to figure out, bearing and speed."

The key word here is "should". Just like MH370, which "should" have had ............

​Very simple solutions that would have saved tons of money and/or lives, but the companies that own the vessels were/are just too cheap to install the necessary systems. And, since there are no regulations requiring them to, they won't.

correct me if I am wrong, but I always understood that above a certain gross tonnage AIS was mandatory on a vessel ?

but although the cost on vessel is relatively cheap, believe and AIS type system on a plane becomes a whole different thing cost wise

[DubaiIsCalling]

The pirates would have needed a tanker themselves, or a large-decked ship and a load of drums.

Possible collusion.

when I worked before for an American insurance co. we called this a classic event of insurance scam. And pretty dumb orchestrated.

[misterphil]

You can just imagine it on-board.

Pirate to Captain: We are going to steal all your oil from your vessel.

Captain to Pirate: OK mai bpen rai, gin kao mai

[surangw]

no plan to put a remote controlled

EPIRB on any of these vessels ?

[FangFerang]

The reds really did it, of course....

[sustento]

MT Orapin 4 is a 3800dwt product carrier. She carries 14 crew. Basically she's a coaster. She's unlikely to be carrying GMDSS - probably just VHF. Possibly 2Mhz as well. She's certainly not capable of 22 knots.

Edited June 2, 2014 by sustento

[Strangebrew]

There were reports of several huge indonesians with hose's hanging out there arse floating off shore With ladyboys on board dancing to music from the village people

[Strangebrew]

AIS They have 12 call oh no cell towers at sea my bad.

[noitom]

The unnamed tanker owner only notified the Thai navy upon getting their tanker back. Taking no chances that the Thai navy would bumble and stumble and the tanker would end up in the hands of human traffickers on some offshore koh. A tanker would come in handy in the human tanker trade.

[Dellboy218]

Tankers just moving around with virtually no effort to contact anyone after the event?

Can they get from where they were meant to be to Sri Racha in a day and a bit?

Lets assume Singapore to Sri Racha... about 790 NM, assume transit time 36 hours

Just on 22 knots cruising speed, and the tanker is empty...why not, it not unreasonable..

The big supertankers can run at 18 knots full and 25 knots empty

The only comment I have about this is the vessel should have AIS installed so they can be tracked, so even if they where hijacked, and the pirates were smart enough to know to switch off the AIS/disable it, last know position would be easy to figure out, bearing and speed.

I think 25 knots is pushing your luck with a VLCC or ULCC, maybe the odd one downhill with the wind behind it. Most will be designed for a max of 18kts with a normal operating speed of 16.. I have been on a 320,000 tonner that managed 23 knots which is remarkable for such a huge vessel, however running a ship of that size and that speed does not come cheap, 150-200 tons of fuel a day probably with an efficient engine, this is is also presuming that the hull is clean with decent paint. Looking at the photo of that coaster I imagine she was designed for 15/16kts with a normal operating speed of 14 and judging by her condition 12/13 would be her normal operating speed.

[Bluespunk]

Pirates beware the Thai Junta is watching you, when they get these aircraft carriers working we will be on your case

Sri Racha might be a good place to start the search.

[Seastallion]

That hard luck rust bucket should steam immediately for the ship-breaking beach in Bangladesh or Pakistan. Interesting that this hijacking never even got mentioned in the international press. Has piracy become this common?

Yes. It's only if the crew are Western, and even then it may not hit the news.

Somalia has made the world inured to it.

[wabothai]

Frequent hyjackings in the area and nobody knows anything. Has the crew been interrogated? Strange and questionable story.

[Boatfreak]

this time do not loose him, here he is https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/567177000

[Soutpeel]

That hard luck rust bucket should steam immediately for the ship-breaking beach in Bangladesh or Pakistan. Interesting that this hijacking never even got mentioned in the international press. Has piracy become this common?

Yes. It's only if the crew are Western, and even then it may not hit the news.

Somalia has made the world inured to it.

actually this hijacking was mentioned this morning on the BBC news, and a bit of a discussion about hijacking for fuel in the region, and apparently, this has been the 4th or 5th case this year alone.

[MK1]

this time do not loose him, here he is https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/567177000

According to that information, last sat nav position, presumable before the alleged hijacking, was on Tuesday 27 May in the Singapore straits, just over one hour out from Singapore. It would appear the event may have happen at 08:24, after slowing to 5.3knots, just after passing Seborak Island before presumably going into zig zag maneuvers, losing last contact at 08:37, not long after after resuming speed back to 6.6knots, off the coast of Sambu Island. Please beware,this is pure-speculation based on the data from the link supplied..Thanks to Boatfreak

See the link above and make your own assessment.

Edited June 3, 2014 by MK1

[Maestro]

Removed some troll posts.

[Justanotherpassword]

Pirates beware the Thai Junta is watching you, when they get these aircraft carriers working we will be on your case

aRRRRRRRRHG! i DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF THIS. It is a shipping lane not the far side of the moon.