Johor Oil Rig Worker Saved By Wife Who Was On Video Call With Him During A Robbery
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the quick action by the crew member's wife helped them make the arrests.
By May Vin Ang — 27 Apr 2023, 05:46 PM
A video call between a wife and her husband proved crucial in saving his and his co-workers' lives during a robbery on an oil rig off the coast of Pasir Gudang, Johor three days ago
A 24-year-old crew member of an oil platform near the Tanjung Langsat Port was on a video call with his wife when four robbers armed with machetes decided to raid the rig.
According to Bernama, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) acting director-general Vice-Admiral Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said the incident occurred at about 10.30pm on Monday, 24 April.
Only two men were on the platform, which is located 0.7 nautical miles northeast of the port's jetty, that night.
The director-general said the crew member's wife saw her husband's phone being snatched by a stranger behind him before their call went dark
She quickly reported the incident to the maritime authorities, who immediately dispatched a patrol boat to her husband's workplace to investigate the scene.
"A maritime patrol boat arrived at the scene at 12.30am on Tuesday (25 April) after receiving the report and found a fibreglass boat used by the four suspects under the platform," said Saiful.
According to The Star, the gang of robbers pretended to be working at the oil rig and initially ignored the patrol boat's call to identify themselves.
However, when the MMEA officers approached the rig, the suspects fled to the air draught (the space between the water surface and the oil rig), so that the patrol boat could not follow them.
In their desperation, the director-general said the gang also sunk their own boat to get rid of the evidence and weapons they used to attack the crew, as well as the equipment, undersea cables, and two mobile phones they stole from the victims.
MMEA managed to arrest the suspects, aged 27 to 47, at 4.35am on Tuesday when they gave up from holding onto the poles under the oil rig
"Their arms cramped up eventually and they fell into the sea. We just had to fish them out and arrest them to facilitate investigation under Section 391 of the Penal Code for gang robbery," Saiful told reporters at the MMEA Sedili Zone headquarters on Wednesday, 26 April.
Saiful said the four men, two of whom are brothers, will be remanded for five days from Tuesday.
Investigations also found that three of the four suspects had criminal records for, among others, drugs and possession of dangerous weapons.
Total damages and losses from the robbery have yet to be established.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) acting director-general Vice-Admiral Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim showing photos of the four suspects.
Image via Omar Ahmad/New Straits TimesMeanwhile, Saiful said the two crew members, who were tied up and gagged in a room, managed to untie themselves and hide until the authorities arrived
The director-general said, apart from bruises to their wrists and ankles, both victims were unhurt.
He added that the quick action by the crew member's wife helped MMEA make the arrests.
