Posted on 05/31/2004 12:35:45 AM PDT by FairOpinion
A RECENT report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), an ocean crime watchdog, suggests that increased vigilance by the respective law enforcement authorities has brought down the the number of armed attacks in the waters of India, Malaysia and the Philippines in the past few months.
Some other countries also have seen a drop in the attacks. Somalia had a 50 per cent drop, despite the eastern and the north-eastern coasts of the African country being notorious for hijacking of vessels and kidnapping of crew for ransom. Other countries reporting fewer attacks included Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Guyana and Thailand.
However, this need not necessarily be a cause for comfort. In 2003, the number of reported ship attacks jumped to 445, 20 per cent higher than the previous year and second highest level since the IMB began compiling statistics in 1991.
The number of seafarers killed also rose to 21, with another 71 crew or passengers listed as missing, and 88 injured. The figures for 2002, 10 were killed and 38 injured. The number taken hostage nearly doubled to 359 in 2003.
The IMB report also indicates that the number of ships hijacked for the theft of the vessel itself or cargo has dropped but that more vulnerable boats such as tugs and barges are being targeted and crew are being abducted for ransom.
The kidnappings, it is felt, are largely the handiwork of militant groups in politically sensitive areas. The motivation of a militant attack is different from that of commercial pirates, though there is a common thread — collecting ransom.
For example, the Indonesian waters continue to be the most dangerous with 121 reported attacks in 2003. The Malacca Straits between Indonesia and Malaysia and one of the world's busiest and strategically most important shipping lanes, saw a rise to 28 attacks in 2003.
Nearly 40 per cent of the world's trade and 80 per cent of Japan's crude oil is transported through this narrow waterway.
The IMB study reveals that locals, which do not want to go other ports and do not have the contacts to dispose of their cargo, are generally behind most attacks. It points to the separatist movement in Aceh, Indonesia, as an example.
Some Western intelligence agencies and maritime security experts have linked Al Qaeda, or militant groups associated with it, to the armed attacks in the Malacca Straits.
Oil and gas tankers are the prime targets, not only in the Malacca Straits but also elsewhere (bombing of the Limburg oil tanker off Yemen in 2002). In 23 per cent of the attacks in 2003, tankers were the targets.
That these vessels carrying dangerous cargoes may be temporarily under the control of unauthorised individuals remains a matter of concern.
Particularly at risk are big ships carrying oil or chemicals that could be sunk in the narrowest parts, or choke-points of the Straits or turned into floating bombs. Such an act of terror would lead to re-routing some 50,000 ships disrupting the world trade.
Often, commercial pirates are backed by organised international crime gangs that obtain false papers so that they can re-route target ships to a new port. The gangs prefer cargoes that are easy to sell, such as fuel oil, rice or sugar.
Bangladesh was ranked as the having the second highest number of attacks in 2003 with 58 and Nigeria coming third with 39. Attacks off Nigeria almost tripled over the previous year and the IMB regards its as the most dangerous zone in Africa in matter of piracy and armed attacks.
The IMB notes with concern the rising use of sub-machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Also, ships are being attacked simultaneously by a number of small pirate boats, firing weapons at the bridge of the vessels.
The security of the waters, particularly in the Malacca Straits, has become a politically sensitive issue. The littoral states are obviously not the only stakeholders in this matter.
Other users also have strong economic as well as strategic interests in ensuring that the region is kept open and safe. The Australian Government recently raised concern that terrorists could be planning to attack South-East Asia's busiest shipping lanes with a "crude nuclear device or radiological bomb".
The warning was contained in a government report that was distributed at an Asean anti-terrorism conference in Manila on transport security in March.
Singapore's Defence Minister warned that the navies patrolling the Malacca Straits are not equipped to stop terror attacks on the high seas, hinting that the countries along the waterways should accept the US proposal for a joint patrols.
In March, the US Government proposed that it could help joint patrols in the Straits. The proposal grew out of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a US-led multinational group that cooperates on halting the transfer of nuclear technology by land and sea, including forced seizure of ships.
The US had expected a broad range of support from South-East Asia as all the countries were concerned about the transnational threat and no country, left to itself, could cope with the challenge. But that did not happen.
While Singapore has given support to the US proposal, Malaysia and Indonesia have opposed it. Both the countries complain that the US officials have not briefed them on the proposal.
Malaysia objects to the US proposal saying, "it touches on the question of our national integrity". Indonesia, on other hand, states that the security of the Malacca Straits is for Indonesia and Malaysia to shoulder and "we will not accept any policies or steps that were inconsistent with that reality".
Under the international law, a major part of the straits is within the territorial seas of the three states — Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
Foreign vessels have the right to transit through the shipping lanes, but the countries whose vessels use them have no right to patrol or make arrests unless otherwise authorised to do so by the coastal state in whose waters the incident has occurred.
"Some Western intelligence agencies and maritime security experts have linked Al Qaeda, or militant groups associated with it, to the armed attacks in the Malacca Straits.
Oil and gas tankers are the prime targets, not only in the Malacca Straits but also elsewhere (bombing of the Limburg oil tanker off Yemen in 2002). In 23 per cent of the attacks in 2003, tankers were the targets.
That these vessels carrying dangerous cargoes may be temporarily under the control of unauthorised individuals remains a matter of concern.
Particularly at risk are big ships carrying oil or chemicals that could be sunk in the narrowest parts, or choke-points of the Straits or turned into floating bombs. Such an act of terror would lead to re-routing some 50,000 ships disrupting the world trade. "
Looks like many attacks by Al Qaeda have been foiled, and we don't even know about it. Mansoor Ijaz mentioned it frequently that the Malacca Straits are very attractive target for Al Qaeda, because some large fraction of shipping goes through there.
"Nearly 40 per cent of the world's trade and 80 per cent of Japan's crude oil is transported through this narrow waterway."
Related article with additional info -- recommend reading the entire article:
Chilly response to U.S. plan to deploy forces in the Strait of Malacca
http://www.iags.org/n0524042.htm
"Some of the most unsettling scenarios regarding the links between pirates and terrorists is of a hijacking of a crude or LNG tanker and ramming it into a vessel or stationary target. Such attack could close the strait for several weeks creating major upheaval in world markets. If such a ship also happens to carry a nuclear weapon or radioactive "dirty bomb" the result could be devastating."
AND another one:
Threats to Oil Transport
http://www.iags.org/oiltransport.html
Since half of America's oil is imported, terror organizations like al-Qaeda and its affiliates can disrupt the free flow of crude oil into the U.S. by cutting oil transportation routes. Disruption of oil flows through any of these routes could have a significant impact on global oil prices.
Terror organizations have planned several attacks against oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf and Horn of Africa. According to FBI Director Robert Mueller, "There have been any number of attacks on ships that have been thwarted." In June 2002, a group of al-Qaeda operatives suspected of plotting raids on British and American ships and tankers passing through the Strait of Gibraltar was arrested by the Moroccan government.
But not all the attacks were prevented. In October 2002, al-Qaeda carried out an attack when a boat packed with explosives rammed and badly holed a French supertanker off Yemen. Many terror experts have expressed concern that Al-Qaeda might seize a ship and crash it into another vessel or into a refinery or port.
Most of the pirates are (suprise) Muslim with both Malaysia and Indonesia providing their share of the scum. This is the real reason for their reluctance to support the Singapore proposal. While I do not think either government actually supports or encourages piracy in the straits, they are like the Al Qaida cheerleaders in the U.S. media-- they simply do not want the truth to be widely known.
These pirates are not just theives-- they generally machine-gun their prey so as to leave no witnesses. An invocation of the old-fashioned piracy laws of hanging surviving pirates from the yardarm is clearly in order here.
I don't think there's too much like a Yardarm left to hang them from anymore. I advise throwing them under the bow, their last sensation would be getting wrapped around the screw. Ok, who's next?
It seems that having random (US-flagged) ships having some Marines on board would be in order. Might be an incentive to register your ship with the US
Pirates?
one word: POMPEY
This is so silly. Put one AA gun on the bridge and a handful of 50 cals at a few points around the hull. Multi-million dollar cargos on ships worth ten times as much can afford a tiny amount of armament. All this penny ante pirate stuff would evaporate, because they would simply be outgunned by the simplest freighter.
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