Cargo ship carrying tin ores robbed at sea near Bangka island

A cargo ship load with about 800 tons of tin ores heading from Pangkal Palam in Bangka island to Singapore were robbed Thursday night by a group of armed men only several hours after its departure, a report said on Tuesday.

Riau Pos reported that the armed robbers ran way with the KM Inabukwa, a cargo ship owned by the state owned shipping company Pelni, after they dumped its 22 crews in a remote island.

Djoko Utoyo, a staff of the beach guard armada in Tanjung Uban, told the daily that it was known yet the whereabouts of the cargo ship. The crew of the ship were helped by local fishermen who found them in the remote island. They were later taken to Pelni's office in Tanjung Pinang on Sunday.

The incident occurred when armed men unexpectedly embarked on the ship and threatened all the crews. The robbers managed to overpower the crew, tied and covered their eyes before dumping them in the remote island.

The search of the ship is continuing but it is not certain yet about the fate of the cargo ship. It is not known if the tin ores are owned by the state owned tin oil company PT Timah, which controls most of the tin mining on the island. (*)