SINGAPORE: Maritime authorities across Southeast Asia are scouring the seas for a Vietnamese oil tanker, which has not been heard from for six days and is now feared to have been taken by pirates.
The Sunrise 689, which had a crew of 18 people and was carrying over 5,000 tonnes of gas oil, vanished from radar 40 minutes after leaving Singapore on October 2 when it was bound for Quang Tri province in central Vietnam.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, said they suspect it was hijacked.
“It looks like their communication system is off or destroyed,” Choong told Reuters today, saying an attempt to trace the tanker using satellites had failed.
The ship is owned by Vietnam’s Haiphong Sea Product Shipbuilding Co, which said its last known location was 115 nautical miles northeast of Singapore. (PTI)