Its a very interesting read and speaks volumes of the ability or lack there-of of the Singapore navy. Despite this article's praise of the co-operation between the Malaysian and Singapore navies, this action can best be described a monumental cock up.
This incident happened 30 nautical miles south of Pulau Aur which itself is an island south of Tioman. A look at the map will show that the closest naval base of any country, would have been Changi naval base. This location is very close to singapore. I estimate the location to be no more than 60 kms from Singapore. But it took the RSN Gallant 4 hours to arrive there. Does the navy not have vessels already patrolling the waters of the east coast of singapore? Why would it take so long for them to arrive there, and after getting there, they only shadowed the vessel and provided updates to the malaysian navy to send their own ship. So, I understand this part, as the vessel seems to be in Malaysian waters and the SIngapore navy does not want to board the vessel and repel the pirates. But how about firing a few rounds into the pirate vessel to disable it before the Malaysian navy gets there. Surely, the malaysians will not complain as it makes their job easier to apprehend the pirates.
Than the next part gets interesting. The pirated ship Ai Maru was at anchor and apparently, the pirates were busy offloading part of its cargo into their own boat. Apparently, 620 tons of magnesium oxide was taken by the pirates as well as the personal belongings of the crew. I am guessing at this point that the pirates are in possession of a small cargo vessel and not a high speed Cigar boat. Despite being surrounded by the RSN Gallant and the KD Trenggannu, the pirates ESCAPED!!.
So, with all the firepower on these 2 naval vessels, they could not prevent the pirates from escaping? No warning shots? No boarding parties? I suppose you can claim the pirates escaped under cover of darkness, but really, the RSS Gallant most certainly must have NVG devices and a functioning radar. they could have pursue the pirates into international waters and either a)blow them out of the water with that 76mm Oto melara cannon or B) use the 4 .5in CIS heavy machine guns they have and turn the pirate vessel into Swiss cheese. It would have been a triumph for the navy if they could have recovered the cargo and arrested the pirates. Yet 150 pirate attacks a year in the area and not one arrest. I always wondered why, but now I see the the reason. A RSN Fearless class patrol vessel is apparently no match for a pirate cargo ship hauling 620 tonnes of stolen oxide. Why don't the PAP simply give citizenships to these pirate captains and put them in command of RSN ships? From what I can see, the pirate captain was surrounded, outgunned, out manned, with an inferior vessel, and yet elluded them. I can only conclude that if this pirate was armed with a 76mm Oto melara, he would have sunk these 2 fuck useless naval ships.
$13 billion a year defence budget and it produces this underwhelming performance from the RSN. I don't feel comfortable at all. One day, the pirates will figure out that they can put 20 ships together, sail into the East Coast. get off, have some seafood, and rob and rape every one at the East Coast Seafood Centre. I don't understand why there is no COI into this sort of fuck performance by the RSN. In fact, I did not even see Shit Times mention this incident at all.
June 16, 2014
Pirates Scared Off in South China Sea
At roughly 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, a ship owner notified authorities of a pirate attack on one of his tankers in the South China Sea.
Singapore’s Information Fusion Center (IFC) reacted quickly and coordinated with its International Liaison Officers from Malaysia and Indonesia for an operational response.
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) swiftly deployed its Patrol Vessel, RSS Gallant, which was the first naval vessel to arrive near the scene of the attack at 12.45 a.m.
RSS Gallant provided position updates and continued to shadow the tanker. Upon receipt of the report, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) deployed patrol ship Terengganu KD [pictured below]. They were able to intercept the pirate ship and approach the hijacked tanker at anchor. Communication links were attempted, but failed.
Fortunately, the presence of maritime security forces from the RSN and RMN in the vicinity of the tanker Ai Maru forced the perpetrators to abandon their attack and flee the scene into international waters.
Other reports stated that the pirates did manage to escape with a large part of the tanker's cargo, despite the multinational efforts. Platts reported that seven pirates tied and locked up the crew, damaged the communication equipment, stole 620 mt of MGO and personal belongings and fled.
The tanker was carrying marine gas oil and was hijacked about 30 nautical miles south of Pulau Aur, Johor, Malaysia. All crewmembers are believed to be safe. The ship was later handed over to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Southern Region for further investigation.
The Honduras-registered tanker was in transit from the outside port limits of western Singapore to the Gulf of Thailand. The same vessel had been boarded by pirates in 2012 in the South China Sea; this attempt was foiled by authorities.
Authorities again emphasize the need for timely information sharing and proper management to curb piracy.
This incident happened 30 nautical miles south of Pulau Aur which itself is an island south of Tioman. A look at the map will show that the closest naval base of any country, would have been Changi naval base. This location is very close to singapore. I estimate the location to be no more than 60 kms from Singapore. But it took the RSN Gallant 4 hours to arrive there. Does the navy not have vessels already patrolling the waters of the east coast of singapore? Why would it take so long for them to arrive there, and after getting there, they only shadowed the vessel and provided updates to the malaysian navy to send their own ship. So, I understand this part, as the vessel seems to be in Malaysian waters and the SIngapore navy does not want to board the vessel and repel the pirates. But how about firing a few rounds into the pirate vessel to disable it before the Malaysian navy gets there. Surely, the malaysians will not complain as it makes their job easier to apprehend the pirates.
Than the next part gets interesting. The pirated ship Ai Maru was at anchor and apparently, the pirates were busy offloading part of its cargo into their own boat. Apparently, 620 tons of magnesium oxide was taken by the pirates as well as the personal belongings of the crew. I am guessing at this point that the pirates are in possession of a small cargo vessel and not a high speed Cigar boat. Despite being surrounded by the RSN Gallant and the KD Trenggannu, the pirates ESCAPED!!.
So, with all the firepower on these 2 naval vessels, they could not prevent the pirates from escaping? No warning shots? No boarding parties? I suppose you can claim the pirates escaped under cover of darkness, but really, the RSS Gallant most certainly must have NVG devices and a functioning radar. they could have pursue the pirates into international waters and either a)blow them out of the water with that 76mm Oto melara cannon or B) use the 4 .5in CIS heavy machine guns they have and turn the pirate vessel into Swiss cheese. It would have been a triumph for the navy if they could have recovered the cargo and arrested the pirates. Yet 150 pirate attacks a year in the area and not one arrest. I always wondered why, but now I see the the reason. A RSN Fearless class patrol vessel is apparently no match for a pirate cargo ship hauling 620 tonnes of stolen oxide. Why don't the PAP simply give citizenships to these pirate captains and put them in command of RSN ships? From what I can see, the pirate captain was surrounded, outgunned, out manned, with an inferior vessel, and yet elluded them. I can only conclude that if this pirate was armed with a 76mm Oto melara, he would have sunk these 2 fuck useless naval ships.
$13 billion a year defence budget and it produces this underwhelming performance from the RSN. I don't feel comfortable at all. One day, the pirates will figure out that they can put 20 ships together, sail into the East Coast. get off, have some seafood, and rob and rape every one at the East Coast Seafood Centre. I don't understand why there is no COI into this sort of fuck performance by the RSN. In fact, I did not even see Shit Times mention this incident at all.
June 16, 2014
Pirates Scared Off in South China Sea
At roughly 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, a ship owner notified authorities of a pirate attack on one of his tankers in the South China Sea.
Singapore’s Information Fusion Center (IFC) reacted quickly and coordinated with its International Liaison Officers from Malaysia and Indonesia for an operational response.
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) swiftly deployed its Patrol Vessel, RSS Gallant, which was the first naval vessel to arrive near the scene of the attack at 12.45 a.m.
RSS Gallant provided position updates and continued to shadow the tanker. Upon receipt of the report, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) deployed patrol ship Terengganu KD [pictured below]. They were able to intercept the pirate ship and approach the hijacked tanker at anchor. Communication links were attempted, but failed.
Fortunately, the presence of maritime security forces from the RSN and RMN in the vicinity of the tanker Ai Maru forced the perpetrators to abandon their attack and flee the scene into international waters.
Other reports stated that the pirates did manage to escape with a large part of the tanker's cargo, despite the multinational efforts. Platts reported that seven pirates tied and locked up the crew, damaged the communication equipment, stole 620 mt of MGO and personal belongings and fled.
The tanker was carrying marine gas oil and was hijacked about 30 nautical miles south of Pulau Aur, Johor, Malaysia. All crewmembers are believed to be safe. The ship was later handed over to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Southern Region for further investigation.
The Honduras-registered tanker was in transit from the outside port limits of western Singapore to the Gulf of Thailand. The same vessel had been boarded by pirates in 2012 in the South China Sea; this attempt was foiled by authorities.
Authorities again emphasize the need for timely information sharing and proper management to curb piracy.
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