South China Sea Pirates: Tug and Tow Taken, Crew Abandoned at Sea and Rescued

Ship owner photos via ReCAAP

From The Mindanao Examiner

Philippine troops have rescued a dozen Indonesian and Malaysian crewmen of a tug boat hijacked by pirates off Sabah near the southern border.

The men were floating on a raft when soldiers manning an outpost spotted them off Maguindanao province late Tuesday, according to a military report.

It said Indonesian pirates hijacked the tug boat and barge on Monday and threw the crewmen into the sea. The tug boat was heading to Indonesia to pick up some cargo intended to Davao City in the southern Philippines when it was intercepted by pirates.

The military said those rescue included 6 Indonesians, five Malaysians and a Burmese.

More here:

Yellow star is in vicinity of attack

12 crew of the hijacked Malaysian tug Woodman 38 were forced by pirates to leave the vessel on a life raft on July 30, with just some quantity of fresh water and no other supplies. After the hijack pirates commanded tug and barge on tow to proceed to Celebes sea, they disembarked crew somewhere between Borneo island and Philippine. Raft was spotted by a Philippine watch post and shortly after airlifted to safety. They were taken to hospital with some dehydration, but generally in good health. Philippine Navy launched a search for the hijacked tug and barge.

And at the ReCAAP site (pdf)