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Indonesians among crew kidnapped by militants, Navy confirms
The Navy has confirmed that Indonesian citizens are among crew members from the TB Charles 001 ship who have been kidnapped by militants. The ship was headed from Cagayan De Oro, the Philippines, to Balikpapan, Kalimantan.
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The Charles 001 tug boat enters Semayang Port in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Saturday. (Kompas/Dani Julius Zebua)
T
he Navy has confirmed that Indonesian citizens are among crewmembers from the TB Charles 001 ship who have been kidnapped by militants. The ship was headed from Cagayan De Oro, the Philippines, to Balikpapan, Kalimantan.
The ship, which was found with some crew still on board, was escorted by the KRI Multatuli-561 to a safe port in Balikpapan, before joint team personnel verified the crewmen at the dockyard, said Navy spokesman Edi Sucipto.
"Responding to the news on the kidnapping, Indonesian Navy chief of staff Adm. Ade Supandi instructed the team in the field to locate the TB Charles for verification. Evidently, there has indeed been an abduction," he said as quote by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Sunday.
According to the information gathered, Edi said the ship, operated by 13 crew, had been the subject of two kidnappings. Although the abductions took place outside Indonesia’s jurisdiction, the Navy has persisted with launching a search.
He said the first abduction, which occurred on June 20, was carried out by around five Malay-speaking militants in Jolo waters. They removed the vessel’s communication devices and took three crewmen with them: the captain, the chief engineer and another engineer.
Around an hour later, the ship was stopped again by dozens of English-speaking militants. They kidnapped four more crewmen, before releasing the ship with six people remaining on board. (ags)
