Crew of Spratly Islands Hijacked Tug Alive

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued an Incident Update stating that the crew of the tug boat Atlantic 3 have been found alive. Contact was lost with the tug and its barge on April 27 while they were transiting near Pulau Bintan, Indonesia. On May 3, the Vietnamese Navy rescued the nine crewmembers of the tug from a life raft near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It has been assessed that the pirates who hijacked the tug and its tow are headed toward the Philippine Islands. (5/7/10).

(Source: Bryant’s Maritime News)