MT Zafirah hijacking

MT Zafirah hijacking
Part of Piracy in the Strait of Malacca and Piracy in Indonesia

Cutter CSB 4034 of the Vietnam Marine Police (now became Vietnam Coast Guard) approached the suspected vessel.
Date18–22 November 2012
Location
Lost near the waters of Natuna Islands, Indonesia
9°30′N 107°11′E / 9.50°N 107.19°E / 9.50; 107.19
Result

Vietnamese victory[2][3]

  • All eight tanker crews rescued
  • Hijack foiled and all eleven pirates arrested
  • Malaysian tanker recovered
Belligerents

 Vietnam

Vietnam Coast Guard
 Vietnam People's Navy
 Indonesian pirates[1]
Commanders and leaders
Nguyễn Quang Đạm
Lê Hải Trường
Nguyễn Tuấn Hải
Lê Xuân Thành		 Unknown[4]  Surrendered
Strength
3 ships
Vietnam 2 ships (Vietnamese civil fishing vessels)[5]		 1 tanker
11 pirates[6]
Casualties and losses
none 11 captured[2][3]
none
MT Zafirah hijacking is located in Southeast Asia
MT Zafirah hijacking
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Approximate location where the tanker was recovered[note 1]

On 18 November 2012, eleven Indonesian pirates hijacked MT Zafirah, a Malaysian tanker, in the South China Sea. The tanker crew was left by the pirates on a lifeboat in the sea two days after the hijacking but were subsequently rescued by Vietnamese fishing vessels on 21 November when their lifeboat was drifting around 118 nautical miles in the waters off Vietnam's southern Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province.[7] All the pirates managed to be tracked by Vietnam Coast Guard and Vietnam People's Navy with information provided by Malaysian based International Maritime Bureau and Singaporean based RECAAP, which led to their arrest after a brief of standoff near Vũng Tàu port.[note 1][8][9]

  1. ^ "Cảnh sát biển Việt Nam chạm trán cướp biển". Tuổi Trẻ (in Vietnamese). Vietnam Multimedia Corporation. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Vietnam arrests 11 on hijacked Malaysian ship". AsiaOne. Associated Press. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b Gia Khánh (23 November 2012). "Đấu súng trên biển, bắt 11 nghi can cướp tàu Zafirah" (in Vietnamese). Người Lao Động. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  4. ^ Nguyễn Long (23 November 2012). "Thuyền viên tàu ZAFIRAH nhận diện cướp biển" (in Vietnamese). Thanh Niên. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Foreign hijacked sailors return home safely". Vietnam Plus. Baomoi. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  6. ^ "11 pirates arrested in Ba Ria-Vung Tau". Vietnam Plus. WADA Tin tức. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Distressed foreign sailors brought ashore". Vietnam Plus. WADA Tin tức. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Piracy and armed robbery against ships (Section: Vietnam extradites pirate suspects)" (PDF). ICC International Maritime Bureau (ICC Germany). 2013. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Reports on acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships" (PDF). International Maritime Organization. 22 January 2013. pp. 3/1 of 4. Retrieved 8 July 2015.


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