SEA PIRACY

Shipowners warn of disaster

Piracy in S-E Asian seas has become more frequent and violent after naval patrols were cut following the slump

By Michael Richardson in Singapore

FOLLOWING the economic slump in South-east Asia and cuts in spending on naval patrols by many countries, including Indonesia, commercial shipowners in the region are complaining that robbery by pirates at sea is becoming increasingly frequent and violent.

 They warn that unless governments take more effective and coordinated action, pirate attacks could cause a major disaster in a crowded international sea-lane, such as the Straits of Malacca or the Strait of Singapore, which are among the world's busiest shipping channels.

 "Piracy is arguably the single greatest menace to modern shipping today," Singapore Shipping Association president Lua Cheng Eng said in a recent report to a meeting of Asian shipowners in Tokyo. "Asia has become featured widely as a piracy hot spot. This is a matter of serious concern
to us in the shipping and trading community."

 According to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors piracy cases for shipowners, Southeast Asia accounted for 38 of the 66 sea robberies recorded worldwide in the first three months of 1999. Of these, 18 attacks were in Indonesian waters, where piracy has long been
endemic. At least 10 others were in the Strait of Singapore, a narrow curving channel separating Indonesia and Singapore which has been largely free of piracy in the last decade.

The robbers generally come alongside in fast speedboats under cover of darkness. They clamber aboard using grappling hooks as ships slow down to avoid accidents.

Shipowners suspect that the pirates are based in the many islands that dot the Indonesian side of the Strait of Singapore. Indonesia cut its military spending sharply following the East Asian financial crisis in mid-1997 that plunged its economy into recession, throwing millions out of work.

"When there are no naval patrol boats around, pirates are bolder in robbing ships," said Noel Choong, regional manager at the International Maritime Bureau office in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Choong said that the pirates, armed with guns and knives, take any cash and valuables they can find, often tying up crew members or locking them in cabins to give themselves time to escape.

Crew members are increasingly targets of attack. The International Maritime Bureau said all but one of 67 people murdered at sea in 1998 were killed in South-east Asia.

Shipowners and port authorities worry that with pirate violence on the rise, it may only be a matter of time before an oil tanker or other large ship is left running without guidance because its crew has been killed, kidnapped or locked up.

They warn that this may lead to a disastrous collision with another vessel, or a grounding and oil spill, that could close a busy strait and cause major pollution damage.

"It's not so much the piracy itself, but the safety of navigation issue," said Minerva Alfonso, regional manager of the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners. "This is very much the area of concern."

 More than 600 vessels a day, many of them oil tankers and cargo ships, use the straits of Malacca and Singapore. Together, the straits are the main maritime link between the Indian and Pacific oceans, via the South China and Andaman seas.

 Singapore has expressed concern at the recent spate of sea robberies in the Strait of Singapore, but officials said they had already taken action with Indonesia to suppress the problem under a 1992 bilateral agreement that provides for coordinated anti-piracy patrols and hot pursuit of pirates into each other's territorial waters. Rear Admiral Richard Lim, chief of the Republic of Singapore Navy, said the authorities in both countries were able to take action "very promptly" to step up security patrols, but he cautioned that the fight against piracy could not be won at sea alone because it was not easy to catch the criminals there.

 "It is important to complement maritime patrols with effective police action on land," he said, in an apparent reference to need for tougher action against Indonesian-based pirates. "Ultimately, it is more effective to catch them at places where they are operating from, and use police intelligence to find out where they are getting rid of their loot."

 The International Maritime Bureau says there are more pirates in Indonesian waters than anywhere else in the world. The 59 pirate attacks reported to have occurred in Indonesia in 1998 accounted for one in three of such incidents worldwide.