REGIONAL sea lanes have become safer this year, with petty sea pirates and robbers steering clear of merchant ships.

But there appears to be no let up in pirate attacks by organised syndicates, which have been blamed for serious incidents ranging from violence, kidnap-for-ransom cases to large-scale cargo thefts.

In an update on the piracy situation, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia's (ReCAAP) information sharing centre said on Wednesday that naval patrols in the Malacca Strait and increased vigilance by sailors on merchant vessels have helped deter petty criminals at sea.

Lieutenant-Colonel (NS) Nicholas Teo, deputy director of the centre, said:"There's been a drop in petty thefts, in particular cases where ships at anchor had ropes or machinery parts stolen at night."

ReCAAP groups 14 Asian maritime nations from Japan to India, but not Malaysia or Indonesia. Its centre monitors piracy incidents in a swath of sea from the Indian ocean, and between Japan and Indonesia.

Speaking at the 4th Coastal Surveillance seminar on Wednesday, Lt-Col Teo, who is with the Republic of Singapore Navy, told participants that the number of sea piracy incidents have fallen, especially for petty thefts, which dipped by 27.8 per cent to 26 cases.

Lt-Col Teo attributed this to a growing awareness among ReCAAP member countries which have been sharing information to help beat sea pirates.

In the next two weeks, the ReCAAP centre will host a two-day meeting in Singapore to allow regional members to exchange ideas on fostering closer data sharing.

Before the centre was set up last November, piracy watchers had to call their counterparts one by one, based on whom they knew.

Now, piracy incidents are flashed electronically to ReCAAP member in an instant.

Lt?Col Teo said: "It takes time to get processes in place and also t change mindsets.