Esscom assists Vietnamese ship escape hijackers

KOTA KINABALU: A quickthinking skipper of a Vietnamese merchant ship sailing off Pulau Boan, Philippines saved the day when he steered his vessel into Malaysian waters during a hot pursuit by a group of suspected hijackers on Sunday.

The MV Phu An 268 was sailing in the area at about 4pm when sailors spotted six men in a speed boat suspiciously trailing the vessel.

Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) commander DCP Datuk Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said yesterday that the ship’s skipper increased the vessel’s speed and steered it towards Malaysian waters.

He said the skipper also sent out a distress call to Malaysian authorities before Esscom’s special marine forces were dispatched to trace the ship.

Wan Abdul Bari said the personnel who went out in a Viper 08 boat and the KD Sri Tiga ship spotted the troubled vessel near Malaysian waters and safely escorted it to the Sandakan port.

“The quick action by the ship captain in seeking assistance from Esscom by using the Channel 16 radio made it easy for us to dispatch our personnel to thwart any robbery or kidnapping attempt.

“We advise all sailors especially fishermen to install the Channel 16 radio and the AIS (automatic identification system) on their vessels to facilitate and speed up the process of seeking aid from Esscom in an emergency,” he said.