Pirates Pillage Thai Oil Vessel
Pirates robbed a Thai tanker in Malaysian waters of some 2,000 tonnes of oil it was transporting from Singapore before planting a bomb on the vessel.
According to a statement from Rear Admiral Somchai Na Bangchang, the chief of staff of Thailand's Third Naval Area Command all 15 crew members were unharmed but the bomb remained on board the tanker Lapin after the attack.
Theekhathat Charoensuk the master of the tanker Lapin said six to eight pirates, believed to Indonesian, three armed with guns and the others carrying swords, stopped the vessel forced the crew to surrender.
Another vessel was then brought alongside and the cargo siphoned off. Before leaving the vessel the pirates placed what appeared to be a homemade bomb on the bridge of the tanker.
The navy had sent its explosive ordnance disposal team to the ship, which was anchored roughly 11km from Pak Bara deep-sea port in Thailand's southern province of Satun.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on small tankers in Southeast Asian waters where the cargo has been stolen. At least 169 actual or attempted sea attacks were reported last year, predominantly in Indonesia, the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca and Strait of Singapore.
