Malaysian oil tanker overrun by crew and taken to Indonesian waters, maritime officials say

Earlier reports suggested the incident was a hijacking

Tankers in the Strait of Singapore. Despite the hijacking a report on the region says the number of piracy incidents is actually going down (Reuters)

A Malaysian oil tanker carrying 900,000 litres of diesel has been taken over due to a commercial dispute and taken into Indonesian waters.

The MT Vier Harmoni was reportedly sailing from Tanjung Pelepas port in Malaysia with a cargo reportedly worth around 1.57m ringgit (£300,000) when it's coure was diverted due to a disagreement between the ship's management and crew.

The director of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar tweeted that the ship was now believed to be near the Indonesian island of Batam next to the Strait of Singapore.

He said: “We have been in touch with our Indonesian counterparts this morning to launch a joint operation” and claimed "internal problems" led to the hijacking.

The incident was earlier reported as possible terrorism but Mr Kahar confirmed there was a dispute within the company.

Indonesia's western naval command and its coast guard said they had been notified by Malaysia about the incident and are searching for the tanker. They said that so far there was no indication the tanker had entered Batam.

The Malaysian maritime agency said it activated its search for the tanker early Wednesday. It said the tanker left from Tanjung Pelepas port in Malaysia's southern Johor state and was suspected to have been hijacked on Tuesday evening.

The exact whereabouts of the ship are still unknown as it appears its captain has turned off its tracking system.

The ship was leased by a Malaysian company but was registered in Batam.

The 53-meter (175 foot) long Vier Harmoni was built in 2014, according to ship databases. It is owned by Vierlines Asia Group, a regional shipping company.

The region has seen a general reduction in piracy, according to CNN.

A report by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia found the number of incidents reported so far in 2016 have dropped by 64 percent compared with the same period last year.