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Pirates attempted to board two tankers in a busy
shipping lane off southern Malaysia on Monday, a
regional government security agency said.
Five men tried to board Panama-registered tanker
Pacific Harmony early yesterday near the
southern Malaysian port of Tanjung Ayam, just to
the east of Singapore, according to the Regional
Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and
Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
The men fled on hearing the ship's alarm system.
Two hours later, six men with long knives tried
to board Malaysia-registered chemical tanker MMM
Kingston. They fled in a speedboat after seeing
the crew had been alerted.
ReCAAP said the same group was probably involved
and advised shipping crews to take precautions
since there had been six such cases this year in
the area, all during the night while the ships
were anchored.
"That area is high risk ... there have been a
number of attacks in that area," said Noel
Choong, head of the International Maritime
Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala
Lumpur, confirming the two attacks.
Many ships have been laid up in the waters
around Singapore, the world's busiest container
port and a key refuelling hub, after the slide
in global trade following the financial crisis.
- Reuters
Source: NST
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