NEGOTIATIONS WITH HIJACKERS PROGRESSING WELL, CREW MEMBERS SAFE

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Negotiations with the pirates are
progressing, and all crew members of the hijacked MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT
Bunga Melati Lima are safe and in relatively good condition.

In a statement Friday, the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation
(MISC) said there was ample food supply and fresh drinking water onboard, with
food supplies being replenished by the pirates.

"There is no shortage of food and recent reports of food scarcity are
merely tactics used by the hijackers to undermine the negotiations," it
said.

To protect and safeguard the safety of the hostages and well-being of their
families, MISC said it could not provide any detailed information on the
negotiation at this point in time.

MISC's MT Bunga Melati Dua tanker with 39 crewmen on board -- 29
Malaysians and the rest Filipinos -- was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden
in the waters of Somalia and Yemen on Aug 19. One of the Filipinos was killed by
a stray bullet.

Ten days later, another MISC vessel, the MT Bunga Melati 5, with 36
Malaysians and five Filipino crewmen, was hijacked in the same waters while on
its way from Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, to Singapore.

Malaysia has sent two warships, the KD Lekiu and KD Inderapura, and
offshore patrol vessel KD Pahang to protect MISC ships, following the hijacking
of MISC's MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima.