Pirate attacks at all time high
2003-07-23 13:52
Kuala Lumpur - Piracy on the international high seas surged 37% to an all-time high of 234 attacks from January to June this year, with 16 seafarers killed, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Wednesday.
Ships were boarded in 165 instances and nine ships were hijacked, the Kuala Lumpur-based IMB Piracy Reporting Centre said in a statement.
The number of deaths of seafarers around the world was sharply up, with 16 killed and 52 injured compared to six killed and 21 injured in the same period last year.
Indonesian waters were the most dangerous, "accounting for over one quarter of the world total with 64 incidents."
Bangladesh was second worst with a doubling of attacks to 23 from 11 in 2002, while third place went to Nigeria and India with 18 attacks each, up from eight and 12 respectively.
The IMB said Chittagong, Lagos, Cochin, Chennai, Dakar and Rio Haina were among the ports that were most prone to attacks.
In Indonesian waters, 43 ships were boarded, four ships were hijacked and attempted attacks were made on another 17 ships. There were 44 attacks during the same period last year.
"It (Indonesia) was also the location where the greatest violence was experienced, with many of the pirates armed with guns and knives," the report said.
London-based IMB director Pottengal Mukundan expressed concern in the rise of violent attacks and urged Indonesia to take serious steps to address the problem.
The IMB said there were worrying signs that opportunist thieves were becoming increasingly organised.
"It is vital that coastal states in these and other risk prone areas deploy patrol vessels capable of dealing with these incidents and ensure that these criminals do not treat these waters as a pirate's charter.
"We would like to see the arrest and prosecution of these gangs," Mukundan said in a statement.
The number of attacks using guns almost doubled to 53 during the first six months of 2003 and attacks using knives rose to 80 from 57. Incidents of crew members taken hostage almost doubled to 193.
Describing some of the violent attacks, the IMB recorded that on February 7 pirates opened fire at crewmembers of a Ukrainian tanker in Brazil. The chief officer was shot in the head and killed. The second officer was also shot and seriously wounded. Pirates stole crew belongings and escaped.
In an incident in Indonesia, a Malaysian chemical tanker was attacked while underway by pirates in four boats armed with AK-47 weapons. The chief engineer sustained a gunshot wound to his head.
On April 8, an Indonesian cargo ship was fired upon and forced to stop. Pirates boarded the ship, stole equipment and kidnapped the master, chief engineer and chief officer. Most kidnapped crew members are held for ransom.
Noel Choong, Malaysian-based IMB's regional director attributed the high rate of piracy in Indonesia to two factors.
"Its domestic economic woes and lack of anti-piracy patrols contributed to the problem," he said.
Choong said the IMB realised that Indonesia has a huge coastline but if there were no patrols in the hotspots, attacks would continue.
The IMB identified Adang Bay, Balikpapan, Dumai, Gaspar Straits, Anambas and Bintan Islands as among the most piracy-prone areas.
- AFX