Add another problem to the rising tensions in the South China Sea this year: a mysterious spate of tanker hijackings since late April, as armed bands of men have boarded and commandeered the ships, siphoned their cargos of diesel and gasoline onto barges or other tankers, and fled into the night.
Complicating matters is the fact that two of the hijackings took place near the heart of Malaysia’s offshore oil and gas production, in waters where China is making an increasingly forceful claim to sovereignty.
Interpol, intelligence agencies and military forces in the region are investigating the eight attacks — the most recent of which was last Friday — and are trying to figure out how to stop further ones, said Noel Choong, the head of the Asia office here of the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center.
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Keith Bradsher, The New York Times via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1qKsviM
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