"We can add another ship, as long as the MISC (Malaysian International Shipping Corporation) agrees to bear its operating costs," its minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said when met during the Tenang by-election nomination process here today.
LABIS (Jan 22, 2011): The Defence Ministry is ready to provide another Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) ship to protect Malaysian merchant ships from pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden. "We can add another ship, as long as the MISC (Malaysian International Shipping Corporation) agrees to bear its operating costs," its minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said when met during the Tenang by-election nomination process here today. He was asked to comment on the navy's auxiliary ship, Bunga Mas 5 (TLDM BM 5) which rescued the MT Bunga Laurel from being hijacked by Somali pirates in the gulf on Thursday. The success (of the rescue operation), he said, demonstrated the RMN's ability to protect merchant ships plying the gulf -- a notorious hunting ground of the dreaded Somali pirates. The minister said he was inundated with calls from his foreign counterparts who congratulated Malaysia on its achievement and hoped RMN's operation in the Gulf of Aden continued in the future. The incident occured about 300 nautical miles east of Oman at 11.40pm, two hours after Bunga Mas 5 had escorted the tanker and another MISC liquefied natural gas carrier, MT Seri Balhaf, to a safe zone in the gulf. The Bunga Laurel is a chemical tanker hired by the MISC to ferry lubricating oil and ethylene dichloride from the Middle East to Singapore. The navy's Fennec attack helicopter launched from the Bunga Mas 5 was also involved in the operation by providing reconnaissance and aerial cover. Three pirates sustained injuries in the incident and were treated onboard the Bunga Mas 5.