T

he North Sulawesi Police are currently investigating the hijacking of a ship transporting 700 kiloliters of diesel while it was en route from Bitung, North Sulawesi, to Halmahera, North Maluku.

The tanker Berkat Rehobot departed Bitung Port on Jan. 28 at 9:20 p.m. with a cargo of subsidized diesel for the mining company PT Nusa Halmahera, operating in Halmahera.

The vessel was taken over by pirates around two hours later in the vicinity of Lembeh and Dua islands, in North Sulawesi. The ship'€™s captain Ridwan Balaati, 43, and the 14 members of his crew were sent off in a life raft.

The crew were later found by fishermen and picked up by water police aboard the Beo patrol vessel in the border area between Indonesia and the Philippines.

North Sulawesi Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Wilson Damanik said police were still investigating the case.

'€œA team has been deployed to investigate the pirate attack. We remain unclear as to the identity of the perpetrators,'€ Damanik told The Jakarta Post.

When questioned by police at the North Sulawesi Water Police Directorate pier in Tandurusa subdistrict, on Jan. 1, the tanker skipper told police they had been sailing near Lembeh Island, an area prone to piracy.

At around 11:30 p.m., Ridwan said he heard something strike the vessel and instructed the helmsman to check whether they had hit a fishing boat.

'€œWe were then still close to Lembeh and Dua islands. After asking the helmsman to check, I became suspicious and sounded the alarm, but it was too late as two men wearing masks and armed with machetes had already entered the bridge,'€ said Ridwan.

'€œKeep still and don'€™t move,'€ said Ridwan, imitating the men.

The pirates, of whom there appeared to be eight, immediately took over the bridge and began steering the vessel, which was escorted by two speedboats on either side.

'€œWe were then gathered on the second deck near the heads. They seized our cell phones and watches and later tied our hands and taped our eyes closed. They only spoke a little,'€ said Ridwan, adding that the gang spoke in standard Indonesian, without any particular accent, and a smattering of English.

The captain and crew were then escorted to the starboard and ordered off. '€œOur eyes were only opened at the ship'€™s side and a life raft had already been dropped. One of the pirates said we would be helped by other people, then they took off with our ship,'€ said Ridwan.

A passing fishing boat found them drifting and reported it to the local water police unit.

North Sulawesi Water Police law enforcement division chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Driyano Ibrahim declined to elaborate on the case as the ship'€™s crew would still be required to answer more questions.

North Sulawesi Water Police vice director Adj. Sr. Comr. Endang Kurnadi said his unit would intensify patrols in piracy-prone areas, including the location of the hijacking. '€œWe will beef up patrols especially in crime-prone areas,'€ said Kurnadi.