KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian navy on Saturday foiled a pirate attack with the aid of navies from Singapore and Indonesia after the pirates confronted a Singapore-managed tanker off Malaysia’s east coast in the South China Sea, reports yesterday said.

The Star reported yesterday that the International Maritime Bureau said the pirates fled after the navy patrol boats from Indonesia and Singapore arrived, abandoning their attempt to loot the vessel.

In a Facebook post yesterday, the Republic of Singapore Navy said its Information Fusion Centre — a network of military navies and civilian shipping companies worldwide — received an alert about the attempted attack at about 8.40pm on Saturday and coordinated an operational response with Malaysia and Indonesia.

Its patrol vessel, the RSS Gallant, was also deployed and was the first naval vessel to arrive near the scene of the attack at 12.45am yesterday morning. The vessel also provided position updates and shadowed the tanker.

Reports said the tanker’s crew and cargo were safe, but did not provide details on the condition of the tanker and the pirates.

An AFP report last week citing the United Nations said South-east Asia had become a global piracy hot spot, with attacks on ships in the region topping 150 last year after being on the rise since 2010.

In April, armed pirates raided an oil tanker off the coast of Malaysia and seized three crew members, underscoring increasing threats to shipping in the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest waterways. Agencies