Asia - AFP Indonesia warns of Malacca terror plots, hails anti-piracy patrols

Asia - AFP ^ | Aug 25, 2004 | Asia - AFP

[hedgetrimmer]

Three-nation patrols of the piracy-prone Malacca Straits are successfully reducing crime, naval officials said amid warnings that Jemaah Islamiyah militants had plotted to attack shipping.

Indonesia naval commander Vice Admiral Didik Herupurnomo said Thursday the joint patrols involving his fleet and the navies of Malaysia and Singapore had begun squeezing pirates out of the busy waterway since they started last month.

His report came as Indonesia's intelligence chief said that captured operatives of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah had confessed to investigators they were considering whether to target the crucial seaway.

"Senior Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists now in detention have admitted that attacks on Malacca shipping traffic have been contemplated in the recent past," Hendropriyono, of the State Intelligence Agency, said in the Jakarta Post.

"Should a supertanker along the strait be sabotaged, especially near territorial waters, the economic and ecological fallout would be enormous."

The narrow 960-kilometre (600 mile) Malacca Straits, which runs along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, carry about half the world's oil supplies and a third of global trade.

Fears that terrorists could hijack a tanker and turn it into a floating weapon prompted the three countries to launch their trilateral patrols, a move Vice Admiral Herupurnomo said had already more than halved piracy attacks.

"Pirates used to be at ease operating in the Malacca strait in the past, but since the coordinated patrol, involving 17 warships, has been launched, there is no more room for them," he said in a navy press release.

Attacks had been reduced from an average of nine a month to four, he said.

The statement also reported the capture of four pirates who had boarded a foreign-flagged cargo ship in the Natuna Sea off the coast of Sumatra island on August 21.

Navy patrols were alerted when the boat's crew managed to fax a report of the attack to an emergency hotline. Five of the raiders remain at large.

In an incident last month, pirates armed with automatic rifles opened fire on the crew of a flammable gas tanker anchored at an Indonesian port, but there were no injuries.

And on Wednesday, the International Maritime Bureau watchdog raised a piracy alert in nearby waters off the coast of Borneo island following two "serious and brutal" attacks in which ship crews were taken hostage.

[hedgetrimmer]

A Singapore coast guard boat patrols around the Eastern Anchorage off Singapore. Three-nation patrols of the piracy-prone Malacca Straits are successfully reducing crime, naval officials said amid warnings that Jemaah Islamiyah militants had plotted to attack shipping.(AFP/file/Roslan Rahman)


The sun rises during the launch of trilateral coordinated patrols between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in the Strait of Malacca in this July 20, 2004 file photo. Captured militants have admitted to considering strikes on shipping in the Malacca Strait, a vital sea lane that carries one third of world trade, Indonesia's intelligence chief Hendropriyono said August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Supri/Files

[hedgetrimmer]

News on the Malacca Straits

[hedgetrimmer]

Those darn sovereignty issues and the LOST spreading its tentacles in Indonesia:
***
Robert Beckman, associate professor at National University of Singapore's law faculty, and a specialist in international and maritime law, said inter-agency cooperation by the littoral states, within their own territory, was crucial.

A key feature of the straits is that while ships have the right of free passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), the waters remain under the sovereignty of the littoral states.

Prof Beckman also called for both Malaysia and Indonesia to become signatories to the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA Convention).


Prof Beckman also said the legal mechanism for burden sharing the cost of keeping the straits safe and secure is already present in the form of Article 43 of Unclos, but 'the question is whether the political will is there'.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/story/0,4567,126362,00.html

[dsc]

"...Islamiyah militants had plotted to attack shipping..."

Boy, it scorches me that they call those %&$%#% "militants."

How about "pirates," ya despicable media slug?

[Rebelbase]

Thanks for the ping. The weekly piracy reports reveal that most boardings and attempted boardings occur while ships are at anchor in Indonesian waters. The Harbour patrols will greatly reduce those occurances.

[Rebelbase]

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Weekly Piracy Report
17 to 23 August 2004

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Weekly Piracy Report

17 to 23 August 2004

The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from from 17 to 23 August 2004.

Warning

Vicinity of Midai island, Indonesia / South China Sea. Two serious and brutal incidents have been reported within 30 nm radius of lat 02:45N - long 108:00E during the night of 20.08.04. Group of seven pirates with guns and knives are targeting and attacking ships. Ships are advised to take extra precautions in this area.

Recently reported incidents

	23.08.2004 at 2355 LT in posn : 14.37.2n - 017:25.5w at Dakar Roads, Senegal. Robbers boarded a product tanker underway soon after dropping outward pilot. They stole ship's stores, jumped into a boat and escaped.
	21.08.2004 at 0400 L/T at Tarahan coal terminal, Indonesia. Persons in two unlit boats tried to board a bulk carrier at berth. Alert crew raised alarm and boarding was averted.
	21.08.2004 at 0400 L/T in posn 02:53N - 108:00E, about 15 nm se of Midai island, Indonesia / South China Sea. Seven pirates armed with guns, long knives and steel bars boarded a container ship underway. They took duty crew on bridge as hostages and ordered ship's speed to be reduced. They destroyed communication equipment and took an A/B to master's cabin, broke open the door and stole ship's cash and master's personal effects. Finally they took master to poop deck and fled at 0420 in a waiting boat. Master sustained injuries.
	20.08.2004 at 2200 L/T in posn 02:40.58N - 107:58.0E, vicinity of Midai island, Indonesia / South China Sea. Seven pirates armed with long knives and swords boarded a bulk carrier underway. They took hostage and tied up duty crew on bridge and others on deck, and destroyed communication equipment. Pirates ransacked master's cabin, and stole ship's cash and his personal belongings and ship's equipment. They then stole from other crewmembers and ordered ship's speed to be reduced. Around 2230 L/T they took master to poop deck and fled in a waiting boat.
	18.08.2004 at 0600 L/T at Varroux terminal, Port Au Prince, Haiti. One robber boarded a general cargo ship at berth and tried to steal ship's equipment. Alert crew raised alarm and robber escaped. Earlier at 0300 L/T on 16.08.04 two robbers boarded the same ship at forecastle and tried to steal ship's stores. Crew raised alarm and robbers escaped empty handed.

Piracy prone areas and warnings

S E Asia and the Indian Sub Continent

Bangladesh: Chittagong at berth and anchorage.

India: Chennai

Indonesia: Anambas/Natuna Island, Balikpapan, Belawan, Dumai, Gaspar/Bar/Leplia Str, Jakarta (Tg.Priok), Vicinity of Bintan Island

Malacca straits: avoid anchoring along the Indonesian coast of the straits. Coast near Aceh is particularly risky for hijackings.

Malaysia : Sandakan

Singapore Straits

Africa and Red Sea

Gulf of Aden

Somalian Waters - eastern and northeastern coasts have been high-risk areas for hijackings. Whilst there have been no recent incidents, ships not making scheduled calls to ports in these areas should stay away from the coast.

West Africa: Abidjan, Conakry, Dakar, Douala, Lagos, Luanda, Onne, Tema, Warri

South and Central America and the Caribbean waters

Brazil - Belem
Colombia - Mamonal
Haiti - Port Au Prince
Venezuela - Guanta,

Secure-Ship

Secure-Ship is the most recent and effective innovation in the fight against piracy. It is a non-lethal, electrifying fence surrounding the whole ship, which has been specially adapted for maritime use. The fence uses 9,000-volt pulse to deter boarding attempts. An intruder coming in contact with the fence will receive an unpleasant non-lethal shock that will result in the intruder abandoning the attempted boarding. At the same time an alarm will go off, activating floodlights and a very loud siren. The IMB strongly recommends ship owners to install this device on board their ships. Further details can be obtained at www.secure-marine.com

ShipLoc

ShipLoc is an inexpensive satellite tracking system, which allows shipping companies, armed only with a personal computer with Internet access, to monitor the exact location of their vessels. In addition to anti-hijacking role, ShipLoc facilitates independent and precise location of ships at regular intervals. ShipLoc is fully compliant with the IMO Regulation SOLAS XI-2/6 adopted during the diplomatic conference in December 2002, concerning a Ship Security Alert System. The ship security alert system regulation that will be put into place as of July 2004, requires ships of over 500 GT to be equipped with an alarm system in order to reinforce ship security. The system allows the crew, in case of danger, to activate an alarm button that automatically sends a message to the ship owner and to competent authorities. The message is sent without being able to be detected by someone on-board or by other ships in the vicinity. ShipLoc is contained in a small, discrete waterproof unit which includes: an Argos transmitter, a GPS receiver, a battery pack in case of main power failure, and a flat antenna. ShipLoc,endorsed by the IMB, is the most reliable and inexpensive system as of today. For more information, please visit www.shiploc.com

Reporting of incidents
Ships are advised to maintain anti-piracy watches and report all piratical attacks and suspicious movements of craft to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel ++ 60 3 2078 5763
Fax ++ 60 3 2078 5769
Telex MA 31880 IMBPCI
24 Hours Anti Piracy HELPLINE Tel: ++ 60 3 2031 0014
E-mail imbkl@icc-ccs.org.uk

IMB Piracy Reporting Centre

Piracy maps 2003

Piracy maps 2002

Piracy maps 2001

Annual Piracy Report

[Cold Heart]

One very dark night while transiting the Malacca Straits I detected a small unlit target approaching my vessel. I alerted my watch and then stood by with a powerful hand held searchlight (I'm sure it had recoil when you turned it on). When the vessel was close I zapped what I made out to be the bridge. Whoops, Singapore navy. Hope their eyes weren't damaged.

Hong Kong had auto thieves that used teamwork to steal the most expensive cars (Hong Kong has more Rolls Royce's than London if I recall) . One guy was a locksmith, one a trained driver driver, and then there was the boat team that raced the stolen boat to mainland China. The boats had banks of the most powerful outboard motors they could get and they were covered with radar absorbing material. We had one race past us using darkness and our 900' length as cover. We were dropping off the pilot and looking down when the pirate boat shot past. Our radar did not pick him up but did show a very long and narrow vee from his wake.

[hedgetrimmer]

We were dropping off the pilot and looking down when the pirate boat shot past

That sure would have startled me! How do you get a stolen Rolls Royce off a ship?

[Cold Heart]

The cars were stolen from the streets of Hong Kong by trained teams and then loaded onto speed boats. The article I read in a hong Kong paper told about an incident where a Mercedes that belonged to an ambassador's wife was stolen.
The pirates (they were in the speed boat then) found her cell phone in the car and called her on her own phone. They complimented her on her very nice car and thanked her for it. The phone call was her first notice that her car had been stolen.

It was dark when we were dropping off the pilot and wouldn't have seen the boat had someone not been looking down at that point. I saw the "v" on the radar from the radar echo off their wake.