Piracy warning
2006-05-04 15:11
Kuala Lumpur - High-seas pirate attacks have risen in the first three months of this year, and incidents are becoming more violent with the rate of hostage-taking doubling, an international watchdog said on Wednesday.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded 61 piracy attacks worldwide in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 56 in the same period last year, and called for continued efforts to battle the scourge.
"The Bureau warns that the international shipping industry should not be tempted to drop its guard," it said in a report.
More than two-thirds of the 61 attacks took place in Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Gulf of Aden in the Red Sea, Somalia and Nigeria, according to the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
The rate of violence during the attacks, including deaths, assaults and threats, also shot up during the period to a total of 87 incidents, up from 48 in 2005.
13 held for ransom
The IMB said 63 crew members had been taken hostage so far in 2006, more than double the 31 hostages in the first quarter of 2005, while another 13 had been held for ransom.
One person was killed during the period, in a January incident in the Philippines where five pirates dressed in military-like uniforms and armed with automatic rifles attacked a fishing vessel.
"The master of the fishing vessel was shot dead and another crew member was shot in the leg," the IMB said.
The waters off Indonesia continued to be the most pirate-prone in the world, accounting for 19 or over a third of the attacks during the period.
Pirates also plagued hot spots off the coasts of Nigeria and Somalia, which has seen attackers with guns and grenades firing at ships and giving chase.
The head of the Piracy Reporting Centre, Noel Choong, said Somali pirates accounted for nearly two-thirds of the hostage-takings during the first three months of this year.
"Somlia is the most dangerous areas in terms of violence," he told AFP.
In one harrowing account reported to the IMB, Somali pirates with machine guns and rocket launchers repeatedly shot at Turkish bulk carrier MV Osman Mete on January 27 until they ran out of ammunition.
US patrols
"The pirates then restocked ammunition from a nearby wooden fishing boat and resumed firing," said the IMB, adding the vessel was finally rescued by a warship.
US-led "coalition naval forces have begun patrolling, but are unable to patrol the entire vast area," said the IMB, advising vessels not making calls on Somali ports to keep as far away as possible from the waters.
However the IMB said that India, and the Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia whose infamy as a piracy-prone area has earned it an insurer's listing as one of the world's most dangerous areas, "showed a remarkable improvement".
There have been no attacks reported in either region so far in 2006, it said.
The IMB attributed to the improvement in the Malacca Strait to stepped up law enforcement and security measures from Indonesia and Malaysian authorities, but called on ships to remain vigilant.
"Though there have been no reported incidents in the quarter, ships are advised to continue maintaining a strict anti-piracy watch when transiting the straits," it said.