An attempted robbery occurred on a barge under tow by a tug, 7nm Northwest of Pulau Kukup, Johor, Malaysia. The Master spotted four robbers boarding the barge from two small boats before escaping. The crew are reported safe and the tug continued to tow the barge to its destination. The incident was reported to both the local Vessel Traffic System and the Malaysian Coast Guard.
This is incident makes 53 illegal boarding of this type to occur in the immediate area of the Singapore Strait TSS this year; the fourth robbery to occur in November.
In most instances, robbers have been discovered armed with knives, or makeshift/expedient weapons, and in or near the vessels' engine room. All but seven of these incidents occurred while the vessel was underway.
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