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Seven pirate attacks last year - lowest in 5 years
K.C. Vijayan Mon, Jan 14, 2008 The Straits Times
THOSE of Captain Hook's ilk did not stand a chance - not with the mighty guns of three navies pointing at them. Thanks to the joint naval action by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, pirate attacks in the Malacca Strait last year plunged to one quarter of its 28 attacks in 2003. In contrast, worldwide incidents climbed north for the first time within the same period, registering 263 attacks. The London-based ICC International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) report card for 2007 lauded the littoral states of the Malacca waterway for the great clean-up as a 'good example of cooperation between states to tackle the problem'.

The joint action saw almost immediate results, with the number of incidents plummeting to 12 in 2005 and 11 in 2006.

It fell further last year - there were only seven actual and attempted attacks in the strait, said the IMB, which included low-level crimes like theft from sea vessels.

Elsewhere, like in waters off the Somali coast which the IMB said has given 'greatest cause for concern', the attacks have been more savage.

Some 154 hostages were taken in 11 hijackings there; in fact, most of the incidents where guns were used and crew members assaulted took place there as well.

Worldwide, there were 263 attacks on ships last year, up from 239 in 2006. The violence at sea included 63 kidnappings and five deaths.

The Kuala Lumpur-based head of the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre, Captain Noel Choong, said the pirates 'will lie low' as long as there is no let-up in the concerted efforts of the three littoral players to keep the Malacca Strait safe.

Dr Rohan Gunaratna, head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, also attributed the success to the strong collaboration between the states, which included joint operations, the sharing of intelligence and joint training.

But he stressed that the piracy problem is not just a sea problem, 'as the pirates are only at sea for raids and on land the rest of the time'.

'Governments should recognise this, and their land agencies like the police should work towards erasing the pirates' land bases,' he said.

More than 70 per cent of oil imports to China and Japan as well as more than 40 per cent of the world's trade pass through the key waterway every year, rated as one of the world's busiest and once seen as a potential war zone by insurers.

The IMB in its report also said that Greece, which is home to the world's largest shipping fleet, will donate US$1 million (S$1.43 million) to help secure the strait, depositing the money in a fund created by the International Maritime Organisation to improve straits security.

vijayan@sph.com.sg