Vietnamese police are questioning the pirates who have attacked and commandeered Zafirah, a Malaysian-flagged ship, forcing nine sailors to leave the ship in a life raft off Vietnam’s coastal Vung Tau city. These sailors were rescued on November 21 and one day later the Vietnamese marine police arrested 11 pirates in a 50-minute attack that caused no casualties. Yesterday police in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province began questioning the pirates who were arrested by a Vietnamese marine police unit off Vung Tau on November 22. Investigators faced difficulty in questioning the pirates as many of them cannot speak English and some of them changed their statements from time to time. According to initial testimonies of the pirates, they all are Indonesians, but a rescued sailor said, “It is hard to identify any of the pirates as an Indonesian or Malaysian. When they jumped into our ship, they spoke to us in Melayu, a kind of language spoken by both Indonesians and Malaysians.” However, the questioning has helped clarify many issues related to the pirates’ actions to the ship, an oil tanker, and its crewmembers. After seizing the ship, the pirates changed the ship’s name, which was painted on the vessel’s side, to Sea Horse to avoid detection. The pirates also changed the ship’s IMO (International Maritime Organization) identification number from 9016387 to 9016081. The pirates also destroyed some navigation and communications tools on the ship. Police also contacted the victims to hear them talk about the incident.

The Zafirah ship seen at Vung Tau on November 23, 2012 (Photo: Tuoi Tre) 

On November 16, when the ship was on the way from Pasir Gudand port to Malaysia’s Miri port, it was approached by a strange ship, said Sann Winnaung the 55-year-old captain of Zafirah. “They [pirates] jumped into our ship and threatened us with guns and knives. They then forced us into the cabin and locked us there. They gave us little food and drinking water every day. They warned that they would kill anyone who resisted them. “We were very terrified and could do anything but implore them not to kill us,” La Ode Muhamamad Yasrin, 23, an assistant to the captain, said. At 9:30 pm of November 20, the pirated forced all the nine sailors to leave the ship in a life raft and they were rescued by two Vietnamese fishing boats a day later. After the ship and the pirates were escorted to Vung Tau, marine police and border guards examined the ship and found it carrying more than 320 tons of liters of MGO, an additive for gasoline and oil. All the oil has been sealed up pending resolution. No weapons were found on the ship, police said, adding that the pirates could have thrown all their weapons into the sea before they surrendered. All the pirates are being detained at the Phuoc Co Prison in Vung Tau City. A representative of Indonesian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City arrived in Vung Tau yesterday to visit the rescued sailors.