Indonesia, Malaysia search for missing tanker with 10 crew

Malaysian and Indonesian maritime authorities are searching for a fuel tanker with 10 crew members that has disappeared in an apparent hijacking.
Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency chief Ahmad Puzi Kahar said today that the MT Vier Harmoni was suspected to have been hijacked after leaving a port in Malaysia's southern Johor state and taken to waters off the Indonesian island of Batam, which is near Singapore.
Indonesia's western naval command and its coast guard said they also were searching for the tanker but there was no indication so far it had entered Batam.
Vier Abdul Jamal, chief executive of the ship's owner Vierlines Asia Group, said the Indonesian-flagged vessel has 10 Indonesian crew on board and is currently chartered by another company.

The charterer and the harbor master where the vessel was being loaded lost contact with Vier Harmoni yesterday evening and its tracking device is not active, he said.
The vessel could be hijacked, sunk or suffering engine problems, he said.

The Malaysian maritime agency said the tanker was carrying 900,000 litres of diesel and left from Tanjung Pelepas port in Johor.
Ahmad Puzi, the agency's chief, said "internal problems" might be behind the disappearance.
The 53-meter long Vier Harmoni was built in 2014.