A seafarer has died during a pirate attack on Sunday on a Vietnam-flagged tanker in the South China Sea off Malaysia, the Singapore-based anti-piracy information resource group Recaap has reported.
The 3,100 dwt, 2013-built VP Asphalt 2 came under attack at around 0530 hrs on December 7, when pirates boarded the vessel, robbed the crew and fired shots before escaping.
The Master then found the ship’s third engineer in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head.
The ship called for emergency evacuation via helicopter from Singapore, but the third engineer was declared dead on arrival.
Recaap says this is the first death linked to a pirate attack in Asia since 2009.
It has advised “Master and crew to avoid resisting or retaliating against armed perpetrators after they had boarded the vessel”.
Recent months have brought a spate of attacks by gangs seeking to siphon gasoil from small tankers in the South China Sea.
In its third-quarter review, Recaap lists 129 incidents —117 attacks and 12 foiled attempts — between January-September 2014.
That figure is up from 99 incidents in 2013 and 96 in 2012.
For more maritime news see Lloyd’s List – http://www.lloydslist.com
