Missing tanker found off Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) - An oil tanker believed to have been taken by pirates en route from Singapore to Myanmar two months ago was found abandoned in the Gulf of Thailand, the Thai navy has said.

The navy said the Belize-registered 1,709 ton MT Han Wei disappeared two days after leaving Singapore on March 15. It was found on Tuesday, anchored off Thailand's eastern town of Siracha, about 80 km (50 miles) from Bangkok.

Marine police with aerial support from a navy helicopter boarded the vessel, which was originally carrying a cargo of diesel fuel, but found it empty with no crew on board.

"We suspect the ship might have been robbed by pirates in the notorious Strait of Malacca, where ships have been robbed in the past," Aganit Muensri, head of the naval search operations, told Reuters.

Navy officers said the search team did not find any evidence of violence, but the ship had been repainted yellow and blue from its original black and white and had been renamed Phae Tan.

"Our preliminary assumption is all...crew members might have been thrown into the sea," Navy spokesman Pasukree Vilairak told Reuters.

Tipoffs

The navy said the discovery of the ship was based on tipoffs from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and the ship's owner, identified as Bai Yuh Fishery Co.

IMB officials in Kuala Lumpur and London told Reuters there were 11 Indonesians and two Taiwanese aboard the ship, who were rescued soon after by fishing boats in Indonesian waters near northern Sumatra.

"The original crew were dumped by the pirates...They managed to get ashore soon after the hijack. The pirates left them in a boat. Luckily they are safe," Jayant Abhyankar, deputy director of the London-based agency told Reuters from his headquarters.

Abhyankar said the ship was carrying marine gas oil weighing 1,950 metric tons.