Pirates seize $4.7 million shipload of tin off Bangka: Report

Pirates armed with guns hijacked a shipload of tin worth $4.7 million in Indonesian waters but released crew members, trade sources was quoted by Reuters as saying on Tuesday.

The ship, M.V. Prima Indah, carried 660 tons of refined tin and was boarded on Friday -- three hours after it left the main producing island of Bangka en route to Singapore, they said. The tin was produced by local miner PT Koba Tin.

"The crew members said the pirates were armed with automatic rifles and knives. Fourteen crew members, including the captain, were released unharmed and rescued by some passing fishing boats," said one source in Malaysia.

"The vessel is not located yet. The tin is estimated to be worth $4.7 million," he said.

Koba Tin is 25 percent owned by Indonesia's state-run tin miner PT Timah but majority owned by Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd.

A Malaysia Smelting Corp. official said Koba Tin would issue a statement later on Tuesday.

In April this year, pirates hijacked a cargo of at least 575 tons of refined tin, said to be worth $4.6 million, while en route to Singapore from Bangka. The owners recovered the cargo.

Tin is used in electronics and a lead-free substitute in solder. (*)