SUN BIRDIE

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Hijacked tanker found, pirates detained

The "Sun Birdie" which went missing off Malaysia on Jan 28 has been recovered and hijackers detained. The owner of the chemical tanker lost contact with the vessel at around 10 p.m. According to ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre the last known position of the vessel was about 1 nm south of Tanjung Ayam, Malaysia at 12.32 p.m. on Jan 29. The "Sun Birdie" was carrying a cargo of 700 tonnes of marine fuel oil (MFO) and had a crew of 11 on board, which was comprising of eight Myanmar nationals and three Indonesians. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Royal Malaysian Navy deployed vessels to search for the missing tanker. The MMEA recovered the "Sun Birdie" on Jan 29 at 10.53 p.m.t 17.63 nm northeast of Tanjung Penawar. It detained the ship’s crew and seven perpetrators found onboard the tanker which was brought the vessel to Penggerang for further investigation. Another two perpetrators jumped overboard and fled. Theywere later picked up by the "Challenger Premier".

Information sought on missing vessel

The Information Fusion Centre Singapore has requested that ships keep a look out for the "Sun Birdie". The owner has lost communication with the vessel since Jan 28, 2015. The last known position was at Lat 01°19.39'N , Long 104°12.35'E, one mile south of Tanjung Ayam. An attack on the ship has not been ruled out. 2014 has seen another annual increase in the number of maritime crimes reported across Southeast Asia with a 21% increase in reported maritime crime across the region when compared to the figures for 2013.