Updated | Malaysian missing marine tanker taken due to commercial dispute, no element of terrorism

The Malaysianmissing marine tanker Vier Harmoni carrying 900,000 litres of diesel was earlier reported to have been hijacked, but now authorities say it is due to a commercial dispute

Last updated on 17 August 2016, 12:16pm

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The Malaysian government has confirmed that the Vier Harmoni has been hijacked

A Malaysian oil tanker, which was earlier reported to have been hijacked and sailed into Indonesian waters, was taken due to a commercial dispute, Malaysian authorities said on Wednesday.

Vier Harmoni, carrying 900,000 litres of diesel, went missing after leaving the Tanjung Pelepas port on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia on Tuesday before it was relocated in the waters off Batam, Indonesia.

A spokesman for Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) told Reuters news agency that the there was no element of terrorism involved in the tanker's disappearance, adding that earlier investigations showed the tanker had been taken due to a disagreement between the ship's management and the crew.

“The ship was registered in Batam but was being leased by a Malaysian company,” the spokesman said.

The MMEA's southern regional chief Admiral Adon Shalan was quoted by The Star newspaper attributing the incident to a financial dispute within the company.

"We tried to contact the ship but it went unanswered. We believe the ship's captain might have turned off its tracking system as we could not trace it on our radar," Shalan said.

The tanker’s cargo is reportedly worth about 1.57 million ringgit (€348,841).