Pirates take $4.6mln ship of tin off Indonesia

Pirates attack seize a ship with a valuable load of tin as reported here.

The ship, whose name was not immediately available, was attacked in Muntok, off the island of Sumatra, on Friday while en route to Singapore, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.
"Details are still sketchy but we know they were firing gunshots, threatened to kill the crew and tied them up," Jayant Abhyankar, deputy director of the IMB in London, told Reuters.
He said the ship was carrying tin but it was not clear whether the pirates discharged the cargo ashore or removed it by sea.
Citing Indonesian sources, a London metal trader said the ship was laden with at least 575 tonnes of refined tin, which at current prices would be worth about $4.6 million.
The amount would account for about 13 percent of London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouse tin stocks, at a time when prices of tin and most base metals are soaring.