The Indonesian tug Henry was hijacked by pirates on 70 nautical miles off Tawau, Malaysia. The tug was towing barge in Celebes sea, when near the Malaysian coast was attacked by armed group of pirates in speed boat. The armed men fired upon the tug and succeeded to board her and take control. The pirates kidnapped four crew members from the tug and abandoned into their fast boat heading in south direction. The rest of the crew on board of the tug were released and headed to Lahad Datu, Malaysia, where anchored and reported about the accident. All the four hijacked crew are from Indonesian nationality, but their destiny is unknown.

One of the crew on board was injured during the fire shots of the pirates. He was transported to the hospital and treated from the gunshots, but without life-threatening injuries and currently in stable condition. The rest of the crew remained unharmed.

The crew reported about the accident in Malaysia and local authorities, together with navy and coast guard started investigation. There is no additional information, if the authorities succeeded to get in contact with pirates. According to the witness evidences, the pirates were well armed and trained, cinsidered that might be part from the Abu Sayyaf militants.

The Indonesian tug Henry (IMO: 9302231) has overall length of 29.00 m, moulded beam of 9.00 m and maximum draft of 3.50 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 240 DWT and the gross tonnage is 245 GRT. The ship is operating under the flag of Indonesia and managed by Global Trans Energy International.