The Malaysian force was assisted by the Indonesianand Singaporean navies in fending off the attack on the evening of June14. The pirates fled the Singapore-managed tanker after navy patrolboats arrived before they could loot the vessel.
There has been a spate of pirate attacks recently in waters off Indonesia , Singapore and Malaysia .
The United Nations recently warned that Southeast Asia has become theworld's piracy hotspot, after an international clampdown slashed thenumber of hijackings off the coast of Somalia .
The UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) reported that attacks in Southeast Asia reached 150 last year.-VNA