KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 -- A Japanese vessel was robbed of two million litres of diesel by five men about 16 nautical miles from Pulau Ketam, a small island off the coast of Port Klang, Malaysia, with three of its 18 crew also abducted by the robbers on its way from Singapore to Myanmar, local media reported Wednesday.

The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday, and the vessel was carrying five million litres of fuel.

After tying up the crew including the captain, it took between seven and eight hours for the robbers to siphon off the fuel to two tankers, according to Port Klang Marine Police commanding officer DSP Norzaid Muhammad Said.

"They then left the ship," he said, adding that the captain informed the diesel supplier in Singapore of the robbery after freeing himself.

After receiving the report from the supplier, Johor Baharu police station relayed the information to the marine police in Port Klang, Norzaid said.

"We sent our personnel to the location and found the Japanese vessel at Pulau Angsa. The ship was brought to the North Port here for further investigation," he said, adding that the captain and crew remaining on the vessel suffered no injury.