Tanker with Russian crew freed from Indonesian pirates

HANOI. March 9. KAZINFORM Malaysia's marine safety service has detained seven Indonesian pirates who robbed an oil tanker flying the flag of the Marshall Islands with twenty Russian crewmembers, the local news agency Bernama reported on Wednesday; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

According to Malaysia's law enforcers, pirates attacked the tanker off Johore, southern Malaysia in the early hours of Wednesday. A patrol boat hurried to help, when it received a SOS message. Pirates from Indonesia aged between 28 to 33 years were arrested.

The tanker's captain said armed pirates sneaked onboard the ship hijacking a member of the crew and began to rob the vessel. Pirates tried to flee, when a SOS message was sent. No crewmember was injured.