A Taiwanese oil tanker MT Han Wei hijacked two days after leaving Singapore more than two months ago, has been recovered.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) the hijacked tanker, was found on May 14 after a hunt led by the International Chamber of Commerce's Bangkok office.

Thai marine police have boarded the hijacked tanker which pirates had renamed as the Taiwanese-owned vessel Phaeton, flying a Honduras flag.

MT Han Wei disappeared two days after leaving Singapore on 15 March, bound for Yangon with 1,950 tonnes of gas oil. The crew of 11 Indonesians and two Taiwanese managed to make landfall on the Sumatran coast after being set adrift by the hijackers. The vessel was found anchored off Thailand's eastern port of Si Ra Cha, about 80 km from Bangkok.

According to the IMB, the Thai authorities swiftly responded to their request for help as the Royal Thai Marine Police, supported by a naval helicopter, quickly boarded the stolen ship. The crew engaged by the hijackers fled before the marine police boarded the ship.

The ship, a Belize-registered 2890 ton deadweight, had been repainted yellow and blue from its original black and white. A replacement crew engaged by the hijackers fled before the marine police boarded the ship. The hijackers unloaded most of the cargo at an unknown destination.

The hunt for the Han Wei was coordinated by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur. The IMB is part of Commercial Crime Services, a division of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce. 

"This was a perfect example of cooperation between the shipping industry and law enforcement," said Captain Mukundan. "And it highlights the unique role the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre can play in these incidents." 

Piracy continues to be a serious threat to shipping. Recent IMB figures show 87 attacks were reported in the 1st quarter of 2002, up from 68 for the same period in 2001. So far this year the African continent has accounted for 33 piracy incidents and Southeast Asia for 32, with 22 occurring in Indonesia alone. 

IMB reports seven cases of hijackings in the quarter ending March 2002, up from just one in the same period last year. Of the seven cases, two occurred in Indonesia and one in each of the Malacca Straits, Thailand, Taiwan, the United States and Somalia.