SANDAKAN: Help from the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESscom) saved a Vietnamese merchant ship that was at risk of robbery or kidnapping while plying through Philippine waters.
ESSCom Commander DCP Datuk Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said at about 4pm last Sunday, ESSCom detected emergency radio signals through Channel 16 from the ship, MV PHU AN 268.
He said the captain of the ship informed that while travelling in the waters off Boan Island in the Philippines, the crew detected a boat with six people trailing it in a suspicious manner and tried to intercept it.
Acting on the information, ESSCom sent a Viper patrol boat and its KD Sri Tiga ship to the Malaysian maritime boundary to find and escort the MV PHU AN 268 to Sandakan Port safely. — Bernama