The captain and two crew-members of a Malaysian-owned ship have been kidnapped after the vessel was boarded by armed pirates in Indonesian waters, marine police officials said today.

The MT Penrider, which was carrying 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil from Singapore to Penang, was attacked and robbed on Sunday by unidentified gunmen in the Malacca Strait, marine police spokesman Chief Inspector Fauzi Abdul Rauf told AFP.

"A group of men in a boat, wearing military dress and armed with AK47 and M16 rifles, fired several shots at the ship," he said.

Ransom demanded

They then approached the MT Penrider and four of the pirates jumped onto the ship while two others tied the boat to it, Northern Region Marine Police Chief Sueb Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

The ship's captain, engineer and assistant engineer, who are all Indonesian nationals, were taken as hostages, Sueb said.

Local media reported that the pirates have demanded US$100,000 for the release of the three hostages.

The pirates also seized RM10,000 in cash, a cellular telephone, shipping documents and clothes from the crew.

The remaining seven crew members, five Indonesians and two Burmeser nationals, were allowed to proceed to Penang with the ship after negotiations with the ship owners there, Sueb said.

Malaysian marine police officials said they were working closely with their Indonesian counterparts to secure the release of the hostages.

The Malacca Strait, a narrow waterway slicing Indonesia's sprawling Sumatra island from Malaysia, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, funnelling 50,000 vessels a year between the biggest economies of the West and the East.

High alert

On Tuesday, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) warned seafarers to maintain a sharp anti-piracy watch off Indonesia's war-torn Aceh coast on the strait after eight attacks on ships within four months

"We are putting out a red alert to all ships entering the Malacca Strait: Keep clear of Indonesia's Aceh coast and maintain strict anti-piracy watch," Noel Choong, the Malaysian-based IMB regional director told AFP.

Choong said that since May, armed pirates had attacked eight ships off the Aceh coast, including a Nowegian LPG (liquid petroleum gas) carrier and an Indian oil tanker.

"Their modus operandi is to come close in three boats and try to stop the ship. In some attacks, they sprayed bullets at the ships to stop the vessels," he said.

Choong said in all these attacks, the ships managed to sail on.

In an attack on Saturday, however, the captain of a Taiwanese fisheries ship, the 3,000-tonne "Dong Yih," was wounded when his vessel was fired on as it headed for Singapore. - AFP