5-7-2023 (SINGAPORE) Four pirates reportedly stole scrap iron after boarding a Malaysia-flagged tug and barge along the Singapore Strait on Tuesday morning. The incident took place in Malaysian waters at approximately 8:30 am, with no injuries reported. The affected vessel Jin Hwa 40 is owned by Malaysian shipping corporation GimHwak Group, whose spokesman confirmed that the attackers boarded the barge from a sampan. The tug had nine crew members on board, but no one was hurt as the barge was unmanned during the attack.
“We reported the incident to the Republic of Singapore Navy’s Information Fusion Centre (IFC), and the attackers left around 9.30am,” the spokesman said.
The vessel was en route from Brunei to Malaysia at the time of the attack, according to a press summary by the IFC.
The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre has reported 41 sea robberies in the Singapore Strait from January to June.
