Attempted piracy attack near Labuan

A picture of the supply boat said to be tailed by three boats of suspected pirates.

Alias with Rodzi (right) during the meeting yesterday.

KOTA KINABALU: The National Security Council (NSC) will beef up security along Malaysia waters following an attempted piracy attack on an oil and gas supply ship some 120km north west of Labuan early this week.

National Security Council secretary cum chairman of the Maritime Operation Action Committee Datuk Sri Alias Haji Ahmad said the agencies were aware of such an attempt and an investigation had been carried out.

“The risk, especially in the middle of the sea, is always there.

“We can’t stop it (piracy attack) but we can do our best to prevent such incidents from happening,” he said after chairing a meeting on maritime operations at ESSZone area at the State Federal Administration Complex, here yesterday.

Also present was NSC Sabah director Rodzi Mat Saat.

Alias said investigations had been carried out to identify if a kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) group or piracy were involved in the incident.

“We are still trying to figure out who they are, as from what I was told, there were about three small boats tailing the oil and gas supply vessel,” he said.

Alias was asked to comment on the possibility of pirates operating close to an oil field about 120km north west of Labuan, early this week.

The oil and gas supply ship, MV Armada Tuah, had send out an alert signal after seeing four small boats tailing it as it left the oil field in Kikeh waters north west of Sabah, at about 11am

A picture of the supply boat, purportedly being tailed by three boats, had also gone viral on social media.

Malaysian agencies have since patrolled the area but have not spotted any unusual activity in the high seas close to the oil and gas platform.

It is said that the ship’s crew, who were heading back to shore from the oil platform, noticed four fast craft tailing them and a mother ship was seen a distance away.

The crew immediately returned to the oil rig and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) then sent out air and patrols to the area but could not spot the boats.

Meanwhile, touching on yesterday’s meeting, Alias said NSC would be establishing standard operating procedures (SOP) specifically on issues concerning the coordination of maritime operations so that all maritime enforcement agencies were clear with their tasks and responsibilities.

“This SOP will or may be used when necessary to coordinate between agencies specifically for high profile cases,” he said.

Alias said NSC would look into the safety issues caused by intrusion of foreign fishing boats into oil rig areas.

He said one of the methods was an early warning system when oil rigs detect an intrusion for the safety of not only the fishermen but also crews on the oil rigs.

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