The shipborne special protection auxiliary vessel Bunga Mas 5 foiled a hijack attempt on an MISC oil tanker, MT Eagle Stealth , in the Strait of Bab Al-Mandeb on Sept 11, the navy said today.

In a statement, the Royal Malaysian Navy fleet headquarters said the incident was reported to have occurred around 6pm local time while the tanker was sailing across the strait about 30 nautical miles off the coast of Al-Mukha, Yemen, notorious for its piracy incidents.

“A group of 10 to 15 men in five skiffs had approached close enough along the port side of the tanker to pose a threat.

“The six-member protection team on Bunga Mas 5 , led by Lt Aswad Zakareya, made their presence felt by firing a warning shot which managed to scare them off,” it said.

MT Eagle Stealth , with a 26-member multi-national crew onboard, was carrying 56 thousand tonnes of low sulphur fuel oil worth about RM200 million, at the time of the incident.

- Bernama