A Malaysian oil tanker has been hijacked and taken into Indonesian waters, Malaysian authorities said Wednesday.
The MT Vier Harmoni was carrying about 240,000 gallons (900,000 liters) of diesel valued at about $400,000.
Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar, the director general of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), said the vessel and its cargo are near the Indonesian island of Batam.
“We got in touch with our Indonesian counterparts this morning to launch a joint operation,” he said in a tweet.
The hijacking comes amid a reduction in piracy in the region, according to an anti-piracy monitoring group.
This past year has seen an “improvement in the piracy and armed robbery situation in Asia,” according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
The number of incidents reported in the first half of 2016 had decreased by 64% compared with the same period last year.
The Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore — which border Batam — saw the biggest reduction.
