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Malaysia recapture hijacked tanker, pirates flee

Xinhua, June 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Malaysia has recaptured a hijacked oil tanker and all crew onboard were safe after the pirates fled, Navy officials said Friday.

All eight hijackers fled in rescue boats Thursday evening, but the captain of the hijacked tanker only informed the authorities after mid-night, some five hours later as he was threatened by the pirates not to reveal their escape plan, according to Malaysian Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

Earlier, the pirates requested a following Malaysian Navy ship to keep a five nautical miles distance, threatening that the crew would be hurt if the ship gets close. Pirates said they were heading toward Natuna Islands of Indonesia.

All 22 crew members, including 16 Malaysians, 5 Indonesians and a Myanmar citizen were all safe, Abdul Aziz said. One crew member was shot in the thigh when the pirates hijacked ship, and the wounded crew member had been airlifted to hospital.

The Orkim Harmony went missing off the east coast of Malaysia's southern Johor state since June 11. It was carrying 6,000 metric tons of petrol worth some 21 million ringgit (5.6 million U.S. dollars).

Abdul Aziz said the petrol remained on the ship.

He added that Malaysia has stated to pursue the pirates, with the assistance of P-3C Orion surveillance plane of Australia. Malaysia has also requested assistance from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

The tanker was on its way from Malacca to the port city of Kuantan when hijacked. It was spotted on Thursday off Cambodian waters. Endi