Crew members of hijacked Malaysian boat rescued by Vietnamese navy

The nine crew members of the hijacked Miri-registered tugboat Atlantic 3 were found in the high seas, about two days journey from the shores of Vietnam.

The crew of the tugboat and a barge who were rescued off the coast of Vietnam – nine days after they were hijacked and dumped into the seas more than 1,000km away from their last point of journey near southern Borneo – are now on board a Vietnamese navy ship.

Axsonic Shipping Sdn Bhd, the ship’s owner based here in Miri, is keeping track of the crew with the help of its agent in Vietnam.

“Our agents told us that the crew members are still on the way to the Vietnamese shores. They were found far off the coast. They may arrive in a day or two.

“The Vietnamese navy is taking care of them. They are okay. They were found in a state of fatigue and panic, but they are in good condition physically,” the company’s representative, Chan Khung Siang said yesterday.

Chan said the company did not have any details on who had hijacked the Atlantic 3 and the barge, Atlantic 5.

The crew were on the way from Johor to southern Kalimantan when it went missing on April 28 after they were believed to be attacked by pirates in the waters between Johor and southern Borneo.

The crew, comprising Burmese ship master Captain Myint Shwe, Sarawakian Yek pang Soon, who is Axsonic company assistant, an Iban technical crew member Sampai Ganjang and six Indonesian sailors, were found on Wednesday afternoon floating in a lifeboat.

They were rescued by the Vietnamese navy ship who found them after detecting the emergency beacon on the lifebuoy.

The nine told the Vietnamese navy they were attacked by pirates. The RM11mil tugboat and barge are still missing. Chan said the company had lodged a report with Interpol to help locate them.