Pirates kill Briton in ship raid

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - The British captain of a Danish freighter and his first officer were murdered by pirates who raided their ship off Indonesia, its Danish owners said yesterday. Armed pirates using ropes clambered aboard the Baltimar Zephir as it sailed between Sumatra, Borneo and Java, said a spokesman of the Baltimar Aps shipping line.

The 2,854-ton vessel was en route to Singapore with a cargo of Australian mining equipment when the attack happened. The ship's other crew members, eight Filipinos and a Spaniard, escaped the pirates by hiding in various parts of the ship.

Passing ship's which monitored the Baltimar Zephir's SOS call refused to sail to its rescue saying they too were defenceless against the pirates.