25 CREWMEN ON BOARD VESSEL BELIEVED HIJACKED OFF KENYAN WATERS

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah

SINGAPORE, May 1 (Bernama) -- Twenty-five crewmen were onboard a chemical tanker Saturday when it was believed to have been hijacked off Kenyan waters and heading towards Somalia.

In a statement here Sunday, Glory Ship Management Pte Ltd, a
Singapore-registered company, said the crewmen comprised four South Koreans, 13 Indonesians, three Myanmars and five Chinese at the time its ship was said to have been hijacked.

It said at the time, the Singapore-registered MT Gemini, an ABS class medium-range 29,871 deadweight tonne vessel, was near Latitude 07-01S, Longitude 041-21E at 12.33pm Singapore time.

The vessel, which left Kuala Tanjung, Sumatra on April 16, was carrying over 28,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil from Indonesia for discharge at Mombasa, Kenya.

The statement said the vessel was on spot charter for a Singapore charterer, adding that Glory’s Singapore office last made satellite phone contact with the ship captain yesterday afternoon.

It said the Glory management had exhausted all efforts to contact the family members of the crewmen in the respective countries.