PIRATES WERE HEAVILY ARMED, CLAIMS OFFICER

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- The 18 pirates who came in three
speedboats to hijack MT Bunga Melati Dua were heavily armed said the MISC-owned
ships second officer Muzaihan Abd Rani.

During the incident, two crew members were jogging at the rear of the ship
when three speed boats approached the ship.

"The two crew members waved at them, thinking they were fishing boats but
when the boats were close to the ship, there were four shots fired. I heard
shouts of "pirates" "pirates" and when I rushed to see what was happening, I saw
men climbing onto the ship from all sides," Muzaihan told reporters at the MISC
office here.

"The captain tried to swerve the ship from right to left and do a "zig zag"
move to try and prevent the pirates from climbing onto the ship but that did not
deter them from climbing onboard."

He added that a few crew members started running for cover in a bid to
save
themselves and that was when they started firing warning shots into the
air.

Unfortunately one of the stray bullets hit a Filipino crew member. The
pirates asked us to help the wounded victim and I started applying some bandage
to the wound but he soon passed out," he said.

The pirates who claimed that they did not plan to kill anyone, allowed us
to
keep the body of the victim in the ship's freezer.

"They were armed with AK47s and also had extra guns tucked in their waist.
They also brought rocket propelled grenades on the last day, probably afraid
that the Royal Malaysian Navy vessels would start firing at them," he
said.

Meanwhile, Yusof A. Hamid, 51, a crew member of MT Bunga Melati Lima from
Johor said it was the darkest moment of his 32-year experience as a
sailor.

"However, I will continue to serve MISC and remain a sailor because every
job has its own form of risk," he said.



KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- The 18 pirates who came in three
speedboats to hijack MT Bunga Melati Dua were heavily armed said the MISC-owned
ships second officer Muzaihan Abd Rani.

During the incident, two crew members were jogging at the rear of the ship
when three speed boats approached the ship.

"The two crew members waved at them, thinking they were fishing boats but
when the boats were close to the ship, there were four shots fired. I heard
shouts of "pirates" "pirates" and when I rushed to see what was happening, I saw
men climbing onto the ship from all sides," Muzaihan told reporters at the MISC
office here.

"The captain tried to swerve the ship from right to left and do a "zig zag"
move to try and prevent the pirates from climbing onto the ship but that did not
deter them from climbing onboard."

He added that a few crew members started running for cover in a bid to
save
themselves and that was when they started firing warning shots into the
air.

Unfortunately one of the stray bullets hit a Filipino crew member. The
pirates asked us to help the wounded victim and I started applying some bandage
to the wound but he soon passed out," he said.

The pirates who claimed that they did not plan to kill anyone, allowed us
to
keep the body of the victim in the ship's freezer.

"They were armed with AK47s and also had extra guns tucked in their waist.
They also brought rocket propelled grenades on the last day, probably afraid
that the Royal Malaysian Navy vessels would start firing at them," he
said.

Meanwhile, Yusof A. Hamid, 51, a crew member of MT Bunga Melati Lima from
Johor said it was the darkest moment of his 32-year experience as a
sailor.

"However, I will continue to serve MISC and remain a sailor because every
job has its own form of risk," he said.