Malaysia needs to overcome major legal hurdles to fight high-seas piracy

THE recent pirate attack on a Panamian-flagged, Japanese-owned, Filipino-crewed, Malaysian-chartered, Singapore-bound tanker, the MT Bunga Laurel in the high seas off the Gulf of Aden highlighted the escalating seriousness of the piracy threat in that region.

Only the quick and decisive action of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s elite team of commandos or Paskal, prevented the horrific possibility of a hijacking and kidnapping for ransom of the vessel and the 23 crew on board. Seven pirates were apprehended.

The prosecution of the captured Somali suspects would be Malaysia’s first trial involving high-seas piracy and as such careful planning and implementation of the trial is essential to ensure successful prosecution of perpetrators.

(According to latest news report on Feb 1, the Somali pirates were remanded at the Bukit Jalil detention centre until Feb 6).

The event also highlighted the complexity of the piracy situation worldwide, especially on the question of what to do with the apprehended pirates. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as making them walk the plank.

Factors to be considered

Various factors have to be taken into consideration such as costs, logistics, ability to prosecute, due process, and human rights aspects.

Customary law codified in The Law of the Sea Convention 1982 (Unclos) establishes high-seas piracy as a universal crime. Pirates are described as enemy of mankind and as such, all sovereign nations have the jurisdiction to apprehend, prosecute, and punish acts of piracy regardless of where it happens, the pirate’s nationality, the registry of the ship or the destination of the cargo.

Unclos defines piracy as any illegal acts of violence, detention, or depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship and directed against another ship or against persons or property on board such ship on the high seas or in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state.

It has to be noted however, that universal jurisdiction only applies to piracy beyond the jurisdiction of any nation, i.e., the high seas. Pirate-like acts that take place within the jurisdictional waters of a state, such as those that occur in the Straits of Malacca, remain the responsibility and under the jurisdiction of that littoral state and perpetrators are often charged for armed robbery.

Despite the carte blanche nature of universal jurisdiction, prosecution must still come under the framework of local legislation and many countries are wary of or unwilling to shoulder the responsibility of prosecuting apprehended pirates due to the logistical and legal burdens.

The escalating cost incurred throughout the duration for which pirates have to be kept in custody pending transportation and trial, the piecing together of evidence and the gathering of witnesses who may be scattered across the globe, the trial, language barriers, legal assistance to the accused, would all prove to be major hurdles.

Underage pirates will add another layer of complexity to the matter in terms of the different laws applicable as well as the need to adhere strictly to human rights standards.

Pirates are still humans and therefore, entitled to due process and fair treatment while in custody. Political concerns can also be a deterrent and the media scrutiny of the matter may not be welcomed. In the United Kingdom for example, the possibility of pirates staying indefinitely as asylum seekers after incarceration or due to failed prosecution has deterred the United Kingdom from transporting captured pirates for prosecution on UK soil.

Further, there is the concern over the likelihood of the suspects receiving harsh treatment in Somalia upon deportation which would violate British Human Rights Act.

Solutions available

To counter the various legal concerns and logistical difficulties of transporting pirates over long distances to be tried in the arresting state, arrangements were made with a number of East African States to prosecute arrested pirates and to help repatriate hostages.

Malaysia however, has not signed any memorandum with Kenya or Seychelles or any other East African country that allows them to receive and prosecute pirates caught by the Malaysian navy. As such, the choices of what to do with captured pirates are restricted to catch and release, handing over to the barely functioning Somalia, or transporting them to be tried in Malaysian courts. Catch and release will undermine international anti-piracy efforts and only encourage future acts of piracy. Handing them over to Somali authorities where they will most likely be treated harshly or released for being national heroes, is also not a viable option.

It is certainly commendable that the Malaysian Government has decided to prosecute the captured suspects on Malaysian soil thereby, shouldering its international obligations towards repressing piracy. The Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (CJA) and the Penal Code firmly establishes universal jurisdiction to prosecute high sea piracy in Malaysia.

However, the domestic legal framework for the crime is lacking. Malaysia does not have legislation or a provision catering specifically to the crime of piracy and has not incorporated any definition of piracy in domestic legislation.

As such, the captured suspects will have to be tried for other crimes that could best fit the bill such as armed robbery, criminal conspiracy or even terrorism if certain elements are met. Our dilemma is that while the suspects are brought here for the crime of piracy under the international principle of universal jurisdiction, yet when tried, are charged under different offences. Would Malaysia still retain the jurisdiction to try the suspects then?

The MT Bunga Laurel is neither a Malaysian registered ship, nor crewed by Malaysians. Malaysia’s links to the vessel are as the arresting state and in relation to the cargo. It would be less complicated if the ship was Malaysian-registered as it would then provide Malaysia the extraterritorial jurisdiction to try the suspects for any offence under the Penal Code or under any other domestic legislation. Piracy however, usually refers to a broad range of violent acts at sea. Illegal violent acts of piracy under Unclos include armed robbery, murder or assault.

Therefore, the suspects could technically be charged with armed robbery or other penal offences.

More comprehensive future

A comprehensive national anti-piracy enactment would ensure a more effective framework to try and punish pirates for various acts of piracy. It would provide for piracy whether within or beyond Malaysian jurisdiction and could cover acts such as hijacking, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery or any act that jeopardises Malaysian interests at sea. It would dispel any uncertainty in conducting the prosecution and ensure that any piratical act committed would be met with just punishment. The right tool is required to do the job properly.

Malaysia and its neighbours have been exemplary in successfully suppressing pirate-like acts in the Straits of Malacca. High-seas piracy however, is a different kettle of fish. The recent attack on MT Bunga Laurel was not the first time that a Malaysian-linked ship has been targeted by pirates.

In August 2008, MISC tankers MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima were hijacked within days in the Gulf of Aden. It is high time for Malaysia to improve its legal regime concerning piracy by enacting a national anti-piracy law.

It was reported in the media not so long ago that a national anti-piracy legislation is in the pipeline. This is certainly a positive development towards enhancing and strengthening the domestic legal framework to deal with piracy that threatens Malaysia’s maritime interests in whatever form.

Perhaps, the Government could also look into the various regional efforts against piracy and consider entering into other joint cooperation efforts. Until a robust international legal regime dealing with piracy can be established and a strong domestic legal framework developed, the best recourse would lie in taking the necessary deterrent steps to foil any pirate attacks before they occur.

● Melda Marissa Malek is a researcher with the centre for ocean law and policy, Maritime Institute of Malaysia. The author is indebted to Amy Aai and Shantini Guna Rajan for their helpful comments and feedback.

Source: BizStar

Malaysian navy thwarts Somali pirate attack on MISC tanker

GULF OF EDEN: Malaysian navy commandoes thwarted an attempt by Somali pirates to hijack a Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) tanker early Thursday.

Sources said the commandoes on board the Royal Malaysian Navy's Bunga Mas 5 were on a routine escort mission of MISC's chemical-laden MT Bunga Laurel and another LPG carrier out of the dangerous gulf waters enroute to Singapore.

But hours out of the danger zone, when the RMN would cease their escort, the pirates struck.

At least seven pirates began attacking the MT Bunga Laurel firing their assault rifles and machine guns when trying to board the vessel.

The crew of MT Bunga Laurel activited the alarm and the commandoes, which were about 30km away, reacted immediately by dispatching a helicopter to the scene.

The sources said the commandoes boarded the tanker and subdued the pirates.

They said the swift action saved the 20-odd Malaysian crew and the vessel. At least three pirates were injured in the shoot out with the commandoes.

In another incident, South Korean navy commandos stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on Friday.

All 21 crew were saved and eight pirates killed.

The hijacking came two months after another Korean supertanker was released by Somali pirates after being held for seven months.

Piracy has surged off lawless Somalia in recent years. Pirates are currently holding 29 vessels and about 700 hostages.

Source: Star

MMEA Propose To Buy Two Large Vessels To Enhance Security In Malaysian Waters

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) hope to purchase two large vessels that can be used for deep sea patrolling covering about 200 nautical miles from the shore.

MMEA director general Admiral Datuk Mohd Amdan Kurish said the vessels measuring 85m long will have the capability to carry helicopters that can be used for patrolling purposes along the Malaysian waters and to monitor activities at oil rigs.

As part of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA 2009), the MMEA are carrying out a number of demonstrations in the waters off Awana Porto Malai here.

Mohd Amdan said the MMEA's current fleet comprise of 120 vessels of various sizes, class and make, plus six helicopters and two Amfibia Bombardier CL415 aircrafts.

Source: Bernama

Global pirate attacks more frequent, violent

Global pirate attacks so far this year have already exceeded the number recorded in 2008, and attackers are much more likely to use firearms, a maritime watchdog said last Wednesday.

"The increase in attacks is directly attributed to heightened piracy activity off the Somali Coast ... and in the Gulf of Aden," the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in a report.

Incidents off the coast of lawless Somalia rose to 47 during the first nine months of 2009 from 12 in the same period a year ago, while in the Gulf of Aden there were 100 attacks compared to 51.

Globally, there were 306 incidents reported to the IMB's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur for the first nine months of 2009, compared with 293 for the same period last year, and just below the record of 344 set in 2003.

However, the IMB said the rate of successful hijackings had dropped substantially this year, to an average of one in nine vessels targeted by pirates compared with one in 6.4 last year.

"In 2008 there were a lot of successful hijackings but in 2009, because of increased naval patrols, although the number of attacks has increased their success in getting the ships has decreased," said reporting centre chief Noel Choong.

However, the report showed that the number of incidents in which guns were used had risen by more than 200 per cent so far this year, indicating that attackers were more determined than ever.

The IMB said Somali pirates have also extended their reach, "threatening not only the Gulf of Aden and the East Coast of Somalia but also the southern region of the Red Sea, the Bab el Mandab Straits and the East Coast of Oman".

Since last year a flotilla of foreign warships has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest maritime trade routes on the globe, which has been plagued by piracy in recent years.

"The naval vessels operating off the coast of Somalia continue to play a critical role in containing the piracy threat," said IMB director Pottengal Mukundan.

"It is vital that regions in Somalia such as Puntland continue to take firm action in investigating and prosecuting the pirates. This will be a far better deterrent against Somali pirates than prosecution and punishment in a foreign country," he added.

Elsewhere, the IMB said, Nigeria remains an "area of high concern" and that while 20 attacks had been recorded so far this year, the real figure was likely to be twice as high.

Chittagong port in Bangladesh has also seen a rise in attacks, with 12 this year compared with nine last year.

Also, "the South China Sea has once again proven to be an area of concern and enhanced risk, with 10 incidents reported so far in 2009. This is the highest recorded number of incidents in the corresponding period over the last five years," the IMB said.

The watchdog said that globally, 114 vessels were boarded and 34 hijacked during the first nine months of 2009. A total of 661 crew members were taken hostage, six were killed and eight are missing.

Source: Business Times

Malaysia counts in global piracy war

Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar will be among the world’s naval leaders who will convene in Newport, Rhode Island, next week to discuss the challenges of combating piracy and other common maritime security issues.

He has been invited to lead a panel discussion at the three-day biennial 19th International Seapower S

ymposium, which begins on Oct 7, considered one of the largest gatherings of maritime leaders in history.

To date 106 nations have confirmed participation in the event, which celebrates the 40^thanniversary of the gathering.

US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead told Bernama Wednesday that Abdul Aziz had accepted the invitation to attend the symposium.

Roughead said Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand had successfully worked together to combat piracy in the Straits of Malacca and in the rest of the region by sharing information and naval cooperation in fighting piracy, leading to a dramatic drop in incidents.

Tracking piracy worldwide

He added that both the US na

val intelligence and the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, which tracks piracy worldwide, reported a decline in sea robbery as navies and coast guards had gone on the offensive.

“Malaysia has provided significant contribution in the fight against piracy off Somalia, and the lessons and experiences, and the successful collaborative efforts in Africa would be shared at the upcoming meeting,” Roughead said.

Malaysia is part of an international patrol contingent of some two dozen warships from several countries, including the US, Russia and members of the European Union, in anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden.

Russia and Vietnam are sending senior officers as delegates at the upcoming event, compared with just sending naval attaches in previous years.

Noticeably absent is China. "No, China will not attend," Roughead said.

Source: Malaysian Mirror

World Naval Leaders To Talk About Combating Piracy

Naval leaders from around the globe will convene in Newport, Rhode Island, next week to discuss common maritime challenges and opportunities to enhance maritime security cooperation, including combating piracy, US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead said here Wednesday.

Roughead said Malaysia's Chief of Navy Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar, who had accepted the invitation to attend one of the largest gatherings of maritime leaders in history, had been invited to lead a panel discussion at the three-day symposium from Oct. 7.

Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand had successfully worked together to combat piracy in the Straits of Melaka and in the rest of the region by sharing information and naval cooperation in fighting piracy, leading to a dramatic drop in incidents, he told Bernama.

Both US naval intelligence and the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, which tracks piracy worldwide, reported a decline in sea robbery as navies and coast guards had gone on the offensive.

Malaysia had provided significant contribution in the fight against piracy off Somalia, and the lessons and experiences, and the successful collaborative efforts in Africa would be shared at the upcoming meeting, Roughead said.

Malaysia is part of an international patrol contingent of some two dozen warships from countries, including the US, Russia and members of the European Union, in anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden.

The biennial 19th International Seapower Symposium this year celebrates the 40th anniversary of the gathering. To date 106 nations have confirmed participation in the event.

For the first time, Russia and Vietnam are sending senior officers as delegates compared with previous years where they sent naval attaches.

Noticeably absent is China. "No, China will not attend," Roughead said.

Source: Bernama

South China Sea new base for pirates’ operations

Increased naval patrols in the Malacca Straits have forced pirates in Asia to move their operations to the South China Sea, where the number of attacks on ships is at a five-year high, an official said yesterday.

Regional Cooperation Agree-ment on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)’s Amy Fang said that at least 10 ships had been attacked in the area so far this year, the latest on Saturday when six pirates boarded a Singapore-registered liquefied petroleum gas tanker.

The attackers assaulted the duty officer and robbed the ship’s crew, she said.

Fang said it was “worrying” that 10 attacks had taken place with more than three months still to go this year, compared to nine attacks in the whole of 2005.

“The pirates seem to have heavier weapons than before, and are attacking ships rather than just threatening the crew,” she said.

The Singapore-based ReCAAP is an information-sharing group sponsored by 17 countries in the region to fight piracy.

She said the increased piracy in the South China Sea seemed to be the result of greater security in Malacca Straits, which was once one of the most pirate-infested sea lanes in the world.

“But the waterway is virtually free of the problem now, thanks to joint patrolling and intelligence sharing by Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

“Only two pirate attacks were reported in the Malacca Straits in 2008 and one hijacking this year, compared to seven attacks in 2007.

According to ReCAAP, a total of 38 ships were attacked in Asia in the first six months of the year, of which eight were hijacked while the remaining were robbed on high seas.

Of the eight hijackings, seven were in South China Sea.

Source: StarOnline

Sea piracy hits five-year high in waters near Singapore

The waters in and around Singapore have become more dangerous for ships this year. Piracy hit a five-year high in the South China Sea, with 10 reports of sea attacks reported there so far this year, surpassing the previous record of nine in 2005.

Sea robbers have also been active in the Strait of Malacca and Strait of Singapore. Pirates have boarded ships on five occasions so far this year and made an attempted boarding once.

Over the same period in these two waterways last year, pirates pulled off only one attack and made three attempts.

The figures come from the ReCAAP Information-Sharing Centre, which noted that the worst-hit vessels have been oil tankers and large container ships.

ReCAAP stands for Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.

Lee Yin Mui, ReCAAP’s assistant director of research, added that bandits often hijack and take hostages on board the more vulnerable and slow-moving tugboats.

In the 10 incidents in the South China Sea, pirates boarded the ship nine times and made one attempted boarding.

In the most recent attack, six pirates armed with knives and machetes boarded the Singapore-registered liquified petroleum gas tanker Prospect off Anambas Island in the South China Sea early on Saturday.

They clubbed the duty officer on the head and escaped with cash, cellphones and laptop computers.

Apart from the officer, who was bruised, the other members of the 20-strong crew — Indian nationals and Filipinos — were unhurt.

Lee told The Straits Times that the surge in such attacks in the South China Sea and neighbouring waterways was ‘disconcerting’ because it laid waste to the impression that piracy is on the decline in Asian waters.

The latest figures from ReCAAP indicate that the number of reported cases has fallen over the last five years, from 148 in 2005 to 96 last year.

Between January and last month, the anti-piracy centre received 57 reports of sea attacks or robberies in Asia.

The situation in this part of the world is still a far cry from the escalating violence in the Gulf of Aden.

The London-based International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur has logged 156 attacks there so far this year.

But Lee, 48, a former army officer, noted that the buccaneers striking in Asia were not driven by bloodlust. They mostly wanted cash, ropes and spare parts from vessels, she said.

She cautioned, however, that although the economy seemed to be on the mend, pirates or sea robbers would still be on the lookout for vulnerable vessels.

“If shippers let their guard down, they will just be encouraging pirates to strike.”

For its part, ReCAAP is already in talks with the governments of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to keep them updated regarding the surge in attacks.

The navies of these four countries, which form the Malacca Strait Patrol, will be beefing up their watch over their waters.

ReCAAP, formed by 15 nations — including the above four and China, Japan, South Korea, Norway and India — will also streamline its reporting and strengthen its information-sharing capabilities.

This will ensure that member countries can quickly despatch their navy or Police Coast Guards to break up sea conflicts.

Joshua Ho, a senior fellow at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said countries bordering the South China Sea should also consider forming a patrol group similar to the Malacca Strait Patrol.

They include Japan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore, among others. These countries now limit their patrols to approved maritime boundaries.

Ho said: “Some sort of joint effort is feasible and the security presence would make pirates think twice before striking.”

Source: MalaysianInsider

Pirates attempt to board two tankers south of Malaysia

Pirates attempted to board two tankers in a busy shipping lane off southern Malaysia on Monday, a regional government security agency said.

Five men tried to board Panama-registered tanker Pacific Harmony early yesterday near the southern Malaysian port of Tanjung Ayam, just to the east of Singapore, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).

The men fled on hearing the ship's alarm system.

Two hours later, six men with long knives tried to board Malaysia-registered chemical tanker MMM Kingston. They fled in a speedboat after seeing the crew had been alerted.

ReCAAP said the same group was probably involved and advised shipping crews to take precautions since there had been six such cases this year in the area, all during the night while the ships were anchored.

"That area is high risk ... there have been a number of attacks in that area," said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, confirming the two attacks.

Many ships have been laid up in the waters around Singapore, the world's busiest container port and a key refuelling hub, after the slide in global trade following the financial crisis.

Source: Business Times

Piracy drop in the Straits of Malcca

Heightened maritime security along the Straits of Malacca has seen a drop in piracy over the last two years.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency director-general Datuk Mohd Amdan Kurish said only one case was reported so far this year compared to three and 12 cases recorded last year and in 2007 respectively.

Mohd Amdan attributed the drop to the improved security in the straits by way of increased patrols and surveillance by the multinational maritime force under the Malacca Straits Sea Patrol.

“We plan to establish closer cooperation by focusing on security zones that are under surveillance within our respective waters,” he told reporters after officiating the inaugural International Seminar on Legal Aspects of Border Security in a Maritime Environment here yesterday.

He also said Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines were set to expand cooperation to coordinate sea and aerial surveillance.

The cooperation between the maritime enforcement agencies of the three countries would include exchange of information and joint efforts to deal with transnational crimes and other maritime threats.

“Such an approach is vital as the maritime boundaries cover a large area that include exclusive economic zones, fishing zones and air space,” he said.

Some 20 senior maritime officers from the three countries are attending the seminar with the United States participating as a moderator in the proceedings.

The three-day seminar is jointly organised by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Kuala Lumpur-based Defence Institute of International Legal Studies.

Source: The Star

Piracy Attacks Skyrocketed Worldwide

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- Piracy attacks more than doubled globally, in the first six months of the year as compared to the same period last year.

Between January and June this year, there were 240 reports as compared to 114 last year, the ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB) said today.

According to its report, attacks in Southeast Asia and the Far East increased 100 per cent, from 10 in the first quarter to 21 in the second, confirming a similar trend seen last year.

The only difference is that the attacks in the first quarter were against vessels at anchor, while during the second quarter, they were against vessels at sea, it said.

Two incidents have been recorded for the Malacca Straits this year, although none were reported for the second quarter.

In Indonesia, the second quarter saw only two incidents compared with six in the corresponding period last year.

"This is a clear indication that piracy and robbery in Southeast and East Asia have the potential to escalate, and shipmasters should remain alert and be aware of the risks involved in the seaway and ports.

"The continued efforts of Indonesian authorities should be noted for bringing piracy and armed robbery down in their waters," said IMB director Pottengal Mukundan in a statement Wednesday.

According to the report, as in the last quarterly report, the rise in overall numbers is due almost entirely to increased Somali pirate activity off the Gulf of Aden and east coast of Somalia, with 86 and 44 incidents reported, respectively.

"The year's second quarter saw 136 reports of piracy as compared with 104 in the first three months of 2009, an increase of almost a third," it said.

Seventy-eight vessels were boarded worldwide, 75 vessels fired upon and 31 vessels hijacked with some 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured, seven kidnapped, six killed and eight missing.

The attackers were heavily armed with guns and knives in the majority of incidents, and violence against crew members continues to increase, the report concluded.

Nevertheless, the presence of navies in the Gulf of Aden from several countries made it difficult for pirates to hijack vessels and led them to seek new areas of operation such as the southern Red Sea and the east coast of Oman, where Somali pirates are believed to be responsible for a spate of recent attacks.

The report said that the attacks off the eastern coast of Somalia had decreased in recent months, after peaking in March and April, with no attacks reported in June.

The Piracy Reporting Centre attributed the decline to heavy weather associated with the monsoons that are expected to continue in August, however adding that vigilance should nevertheless, remain high during this period.

Nigeria continues to be a high risk area, with 13 incidents reported in the second quarter to the IMB and at least, 24 other attacks which have not been directly reported.

According to Mukundan, the majority of the piracy attacks were against vessels supporting the oil industry.

"There is a need for every incident to be reported and brought to the intention of the Nigerian authorities. This is the only way in which the true risk associated to the area can be determined and accurate advice, given to shipmasters, owners and traders," he said.

Mukundun said, regardless of the location, reporting to independent organisations such as the IMB was the key to identifying piracy hotspots worldwide.

-- BERNAMA

Shippers spend extra to ward off pirate attacks

The rampant piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia, a major sea lane for the world’s oil transportation, are costing shipping companies an arm and a leg to install extra security measures.

Some have even opted to avoid the high-risk area by taking a longer journey via the Cape of Good Hope.

Pottengal Mukundan ... These options to avoid or repel the pirates are not cheap.

More than 30% of the world’s oil is transported through the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia.

International Maritime Bureau director Captain Pottengal Mukundan said about 22,000 vessels transited the Gulf of Aden annually and it was the main shipping artery from Asia and the Arabian Gulf to Europe and vice-versa.

“To avoid being the victim of pirates in that area, ship owners are installing extra security measures such as unarmed security personnel on board and installation of razor wires around vessels.

“Some even re-route their journey via the Cape of Good Hope that translates into two to three weeks’ extra journey to reach Europe.

“And these options to avoid or repel the pirates are not cheap,” he said at the Kuala Lumpur International Conference on Piracy and Crimes at Sea organised by Foreign Affairs Ministry last week.

According to International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko), re-routing a tanker en route from the Arabian Gulf to the east coast of the United States, via the Cape of Good Hope instead of using the Suez Canal, would increase costs by about 30%.

Intertanko represents about 80% of independent tanker fleet globally.

However, the extra precautions are necessary to avoid falling victim to pirates off the coast of Somalia whose modus operandi includes hijacking of vessels and kidnapping of crew which can result in a more expensive costs in terms of paying ransom money, and losing multi-million dollar worth of cargoes and vessels.

The Somali pirates were reported to have earned about US$80mil in ransom payments last year.

And pirate attacks can also cause cracks on a tanker that might result in oil spill, which will be detrimental to the local marine environment.

According to the association, about 22% of the ships attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia since last December were tankers.

However, Intertanko regional manager (Asia-Pacific) Tim Wilkins said there were no reasons to believe that tankers were specifically targetted by pirates in that area.

“It is based on random attacks to vulnerable vessels,” he told StarBiz, adding that 80% of the attacks were prevented by the vessels’ self-protection measures.

On the question of paying the ransom money or not, Mukundan said that in Somalia, where there was no mechanism to help shipowners whose vessels were hijacked and crew kidnapped, paying the ransom seemed to be the only option for now.

International Maritime Organisation (maritime security and facilitation) deputy director Nicolaos Charalambous said shipowners needed to be extra vigilant when transiting the high-risk area.

“I note that shipping organisations worldwide are trying to educate their members. But some ship operators take the matter light-heartedly,” he said.

In a presentation titled Overview of The Global Piracy Situation, Charalambous said that generally, the acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships had been declining and the numbers for 2007 and 2008 were heavily influenced by the situation in the waters off the coast of Somalia.

“The east and west coasts of Africa account for 61% of the total number of incidents reported globally last year and 75% of the incidents reported since Jan 1 this year,” he said.

Source: StarBiz

Kuala Lumpur International Conference on Piracy and Crimes at Sea

Malaysia is taking a proactive role to combat piracy via the Kuala Lumpur International Conference on Piracy and Crimes at Sea organised by the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The two-day event, which starts on May 18, will be officiated by Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman.

The conference aims to share the region’s experience in fighting piracy in support of the global effort to eradicate the problem against the backdrop of escalating piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden.

The growing number of attacks on merchant ships has been observed off the coast of Somalia since 2005.

This has alarmed the international community because the Gulf of Aden is an important trade lane connecting the Red Sea, Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.

The condition has since worsened with about 40 ship attacks and about 90 attempted attacks reported. The majority of the incidents occurred in the Gulf of Aden last year.

It has also been reported that the Somali pirates earned about US$80mil in ransom payments in 2008.

The papers concerning the matter will be presented by prominent industry decision makers, organisations and stakeholders.

They include the International Maritime Organisation, United Nations’ special representative from Somalia, International Maritime Bureau, International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, Maritime Institute of Malaysia and the US Coast Guards.

Source: StarBiz

Why the Pirates Are Winning the Battle of the Seas

When the statistics showed a drop in piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia early this year, shipping companies and the foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden thought they might finally be winning the battle of the Indian Ocean. But the past few days have proved that any talk of "mission accomplished" is premature.

The past week saw at least six attacks, culminating with the seizure of an American-flagged cargo ship with a crew of 20. Though the crew quickly regained control of the ship, the pirates are still holding the captain, Richard Phillips, hostage.

There are several reasons for the spike in attacks. For impoverished Somalis, who appear to be behind most of the attacks, massive ransom payouts in recent months have proved that the piracy trade is perhaps their best route out of despair and hopelessness. It now appears that the earlier drop in attacks had more to do with the weather than with the international show of force. "There are new pirates all the time," Abdi Timo-Jile, a pirate himself, told TIME from his home in the central city of Garowe. "We people are not afraid. There is death every day."

Pirates, ex-pirates and pirate recruiters tell TIME that even with all the international attention, the tough talk from leaders around the world and the presence of warships from 20 or so of the most powerful navies, the lure of the piracy trade remains as strong as ever. It only takes a few pirates to hijack a massive vessel, and shipping companies continue to pay out ransoms — in some cases more than $3 million — to secure the release of those precious cargo carriers. Given Somalia's miserable state, the temptation is irresistible.

It doesn't help that Somalis have a marked aversion to foreign forces. Fiercely conservative and suspicious of outsiders, the country bristled under the failed U.N. peacekeeping mission in the early 1990s and the Ethiopia occupation over the past few years. "The sea and the land are the same," says Abdinaser Biyokulule, a pirate recruiter in the pirate haven of Bossaso. "Foreign troops did not succeed on land, so they will not succeed in the sea either."

Stepped-up patrols around the Gulf of Aden were designed to intimidate the pirates. But the recent attacks, including hijackings and attempted hijackings hundreds of miles farther down the East African coastline, show that the Somalis are just changing tactics and moving away from the heavily patrolled gulf. "It's not that the navies have been unsuccessful," says Tony Mason, secretary-general of the London-based International Chamber of Shipping. "You can almost argue that they've been too successful, so the pirates have decided it's easier to go after targets in the Indian Ocean because the navies are not there and it's a much, much more difficult area to patrol because there's an awful lot more sea."

The international community was hopeful in March when Kenya agreed to try suspected pirates in its courts. That, experts said, would provide a deterrent and at least impose some sense of rule of law off Somalia's coasts. Yet the threat of arrest has done nothing to dissuade the pirates. "Not even 0.2% of the total pirates are arrested, so anybody who is at all intelligent can understand that arrest does not bring fear," says Maryam Jama, a pirate recruiter in Bossaso. "If you get arrested, in prison the others will say, 'Do not worry, you will be out and then hijack another ship with good luck.' "

Source: Time

Hijacked ship's captain is unharmed: Maersk

The captain of a US aid ship taken hostage after his vessel was hijacked by Somali pirates is alive and well, the Danish shipping company Maersk said Thursday.

The Maersk Alabama, which is owned by Maersk's US subsidiary Maersk Line Ltd, had 20 American crew members aboard on Wednesday when the attack happened.

"Most recent contact with the Alabama indicated that the captain remains a hostage but is unharmed at this time," Kevin Speers, a US-based spokesman for Maersk, told reporters in Norfolk, Virginia where Maersk Line Ltd has its headquarters.

"The safe return of the captain is our foremost priority. Everything we've done over the past day has strived to increase the chance of a peaceful outcome," he said.

The guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge arrived on the scene of the standoff early Thursday. Speers said the warship was "in command" of the situation.

The attack took place in waters 500 kilometres (310 miles) southeast of the Somali town of Eyl.

The unarmed crew regained control of the ship some hours later, but the pirates fled the ship taking the captain as a hostage.

Source: AFP

Somali pirates make off with US$3.2 million ransom

By KATHARINE HOURELD in Nairobi, Kenya for Businessweek

Somali pirates freed an arms-laden ship after a 4 1/2-month standoff Thursday, speeding off in small boats with a $3.2 million ransom. The U.S. Navy stood by helplessly, unable to accost the pirates because they still hold nearly 150 other seamen hostage.

The pirates counted the cash after it arrived by parachute drop and then began leaving the Ukrainian arms ship in small batches, navigating the choppy seas in small skiffs, pirate Aden Abdi Omar told The Associated Press after arriving in the central Somali town of Harardhere.

American sailors from two nearby warships inspected the departing boats to ensure that the pirates didn't take any weapons from the MV Faina's cargo, according to a spokesman for the ship's owner, Mikhail Voitenko.

But the U.S. Navy did not take action against the pirates because they still hold eight other ships and crew, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

"Even when you release Faina, there are still 147 mariners held hostage," Campbell told the AP on Thursday. "We're concerned for their well-being."

The $3.2 million was among the largest-ever reported ransoms.

Later Thursday, Faina's captain Viktor Nikolsky said his ship was under the protection of the U.S. Navy and will head to Mombasa, Kenya. He also said all crew members needed medical attention.

Ships from the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet have closely monitored the Faina and its 20 surviving crew throughout the standoff after the captain died of a heart attack, and the U.S. sent medical workers to the ship after the pirates left.

"We are extremely pleased" at the release, said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. "The United States Navy and our coalition partners will continue to fight piracy, and work with the international community to find a long-term, shore-based solution to this maritime crime."

War-ravaged Somalia has not had a functioning government for 18 years and pirates made up to $80 million hijacking ships for ransom last year, seizing 42 vessels off the country's 1,900-mile (3,000-kilometer) coastline along the Horn of Africa.

The Sept. 25th seizure of the Faina and its cargo of weapons was a wake-up call about the danger that piracy posed to one of the world's most important trade routes, said London-based analyst Roger Middleton.

"It showed Somali piracy no longer affected just small coastal vessels but important and dangerous cargos," he said.

In November, pirates hijacked the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker filled with crude oil. And last week they took the MV Longchamp, a German tanker filled with explosive gas.

Intelligence agents had feared the weapons onboard the Ukrainian ship -- which include 33 Soviet-designed tanks and crates of small arms -- could fall into the hands of Somali insurgents who the U.S. State Department says have links to al-Qaida.

Diplomats in the region previously have said the cargo was destined for southern Sudan, something the autonomous region has denied. Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua repeated Kenya's claim to the cargo Thursday.

The Somali pirates have netted between $50 million and $80 million in the past year, according to Middleton.

The high ransom payments mean pirates are unlikely to stop attacking. But now warships from countries including India, Britain, France, Germany, Iran and the United States are patrolling the waters off Somalia. China and South Korea also have ordered warships sent to the region.

Middleton said the naval interventions had reduced the success rate of attacks to about 20 percent. Last year, pirates took 42 of the 111 ships they attacked.

Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of the British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service Ltd., said a recent drop in attacks was partly attributable to coalition activity and partly to unseasonably bad weather.

Most of the 16 attempted hijackings in 2009 occurred in the first two weeks of January, when the weather was fine. Three ships have been captured by pirates off Somalia this year.

But pirates are showing a worrying new sophistication in their attacks, several experts told the AP, including greater use of global positioning systems that allowed them to extend their range. Automatic identification systems -- originally designed to stop ships from colliding -- can also identify potential prey from a radio signal they put out.

A recent article in Jane's Intelligence Review says the pirates may be trying to buy magnetic mines and heat-seeking missiles that can be fired from the sea. Brooks said pirates also were jamming emergency frequencies with Arabic music or sending out false distress calls to lure warships in the wrong direction.

Pirates also have begun to mount diversionary assaults or multiple, simultaneous attacks on several vessels.

"We've gone from a pattern of sporadic attacks to a situation where the pirates coordinate," he said.

In one incident last week, pirates simultaneously attacked three ships. Coalition forces were able to save two, but the third -- the Longchamp -- was captured.

Vice Admiral Gerard Valin, the commander of a French naval task force, said there are five broad pirate gangs operating from Somalia, each with about 200 to 500 members.

In a typical attack, up to two dozen armed pirates in motorized skiffs draw up alongside ships, sometimes firing at the bridge, and use grappling hooks and rope ladders to clamber aboard. Many ships have no more than two dozen crew members anyway, usually without armed protection.

The coalition does not issue exact figures for security reasons, but Middleton said there are between 20 and 30 warships off the Somali coast. But Valin said even with all the extra firepower, it was hard to prevent attacks, due to the vast waters and the pirates' increasing ingenuity.

"I will not say congratulations," Valin said. "But we have to respect the adversary."

------

Associated Press writers Malkhadir M. Muhumed in Nairobi, Kenya; Yana Sedova in Kiev, Ukraine; Barbara Surk in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Donna Abu-Nasr in Saudi Arabia and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

How Somali pirates are affecting East Asian ties

SOMALI pirates off the coast of Africa are transforming geopolitical relationships in East Asia.

First, China took the unprecedented step of despatching its navy to the Gulf of Aden to protect Chinese shipping.

Now, Japan is drafting legislation to provide a legal framework for it to despatch warships abroad on anti-piracy missions, despite its pacifist constitution.

But perhaps the most profound ramifications of these ostensibly anti-piracy movements is the impact they will have on Taiwan and its relationship with China, which claims the island as part of its territory.

The Chinese government has said that its naval vessels will provide convoy help for Taiwanese ships as well as those of the mainland and Hong Kong. 

This has created a sensitive, and dangerous, situation for Taiwan, which insists on its own sovereignty.

Thus, it was awkward for Taiwan when China announced last week that among the first beneficiaries of China's protection was a Taiwanese-owned tanker, the FormosaProduct Cosmos, owned by the Formosa Plastics Marine Corporation, as it sailed through the Gulf of Aden. 

Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China, does not want to be seen as under the sovereign protection of the mainland, known as the People's Republic of China.

The following day, Chao Chien-min, vice-chairman of the cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council, said the Taiwanese government had not been involved in arranging for the Chinese navy's escort of the ship. 

He said that the tanker was registered in Liberia and was rented out to a South Korean company and so should not be considered a Taiwanese ship.

China last month offered to help protect Taiwanese ships that came under attack from Somali pirates but, Chao said, Taiwan was not prepared to accept China's offer. 

In fact, Taiwan has declined to set up any mechanism for Taiwanese ships to request help from the Chinese navy.

No doubt, Taiwan is fearful that if it were to accept such a service, the international community would come to think of the island as part of China, like Hong Kong, and its nationals as being subject to Chinese jurisdiction as well as its protection.

After all, acceptance of Chinese protection would make Taiwan appear little more than a ward of China in the eyes of the world.

The day after the Chinese navy escorted the Taiwanese tanker, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Washington's de facto embassy, issued a statement saying that the US navy had a responsibility to render help to any vessel in distress anywhere in the world that requests its help.

However, AIT made clear that it did not offer naval escorts for Taiwanese merchant vessels.

Thus, the United States, which is the ultimate guarantor of Taiwan's security, is not able to match the offer being made by China.

Taiwan has made known its willingness to accept protection from other countries, such as the US and the European Union. 

And if Japan does decide to send its navy into the Gulf of Aden, then presumably Taiwan would be willing to accept its help as well.

That being the case, Taiwan has little reason to refuse help from the Chinese navy, if it is seen as part of an international flotilla patrolling the area. 

There are, after all, 45 warships from various countries in the area, and only three of them are Chinese.

The problem is that it is one thing to be protected by an international armada, it is something else to be taken under the wing of the Chinese navy.

The ideal solution would be for Taiwan to send out its own navy to protect Taiwanese shipping. But Taiwan's diplomatic isolation makes this difficult.

None of the countries in the surrounding area recognises Taiwan, and so its naval vessels may have difficulty obtaining permission to use ports along the way for refuelling.

This technical difficulty may be difficult for Taiwan to overcome. 

That is why Taiwanese Foreign Minister Francisco Ou has said that seeking foreign help could be a "more plausible" way for Taiwan to deal with the piracy problem.

This is a formidable challenge for Taiwan. 

Beijing is offering itself as the protector of Chinese ships and if Taiwan itself is unable to provide this protection or solicit such help from other nations, it would be difficult to fault Taiwanese shipowners if they avail themselves of the help that is being offered.

And therein lies a slippery slope.

Source: NST Online, op-ed piece by Frank Ching

Somali pirates hijack Malaysian, Turkish ships

PIRATES have hijacked a Turkish cargo ship and a Malaysian tug boat and attacked three other vessels in the Gulf of Aden in the past week, a global maritime watchdog said today.

The latest incidents came as a European Union naval task force took over from a NATO operation patrolling the pirate-infested seas near the Horn of Africa with six warships and three surveillance planes.

In the first hijacking, pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons boarded a Malaysian tug on Tuesday, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur.

The tug with 11 crew on board was heading to Malaysia from the Middle East.

Choong said a Turkish cargo ship was hijacked, also in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, by a gang of pirates who fired automatic weapons from two speed boats.

“They were armed with RPGs. They opened fire at the ship and then boarded it. The ship was heading to Europe from the Middle East,” he said.

“Despite the European Union armada to patrol the Gulf of Aden, the pirates manage to attack and hijack ships because the number of warships is insufficient to secure the vast sea,” he said.

Choong said in three other incidents last week, Somali pirates attempted to hijack a Singapore tanker, an Italian cargo ship and a Greek ship.

Source: NST Online

Gulf of Aden

HOW important is the Gulf of Aden to the shipping industry?

About 11% of the world’s seaborne petroleum shipment passes through the Gulf of Aden to enter the Suez Canal or to go to various regional refineries. The main ports located in the area are Port of Aden in Yemen and Port of Djibouti in Eastern Africa.

The 192km Suez Canal, located in Egypt, is the main waterway for oil shipments from the Persian Gulf to European and US ports, with more than 3,000 oil tankers passing through it annually.

It is the shortest water transportation route between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa or carrying goods overland between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

The canal makes significant distance cuts between countries. It cuts about 22% of the distance between the Japanese and Dutch ports.

The canal averages about 8% of the world shipping traffic. Sea journey along the canal takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around eight knots.

Source: Star Online

The Blithe Pirates of Somalia

The unflappable pirates of Somalia are daunted neither by Western warships, nor the threats of the otherwise influential Islamic militants in their midst. And, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s former supervisor for the region, there really isn’t much anyone can do to stop them.

The AP’s Mohamed Olad Hassan has a piece today describing how, when the fiercest Islamic group in Somalia threatened local pirates who are holding a gigantic oil tanker, the men simply moved the ship from the Somali port of Harardhere out to sea.

Somali pirates have now hijacked forty ships this year. The Nov. 15th oil tanker seizure was the most audacious. The pirates somehow found and seized the Saudi-owned Sirius Star some 500 miles out to sea, even though it’s the size of an aircraft carrier and carryies some 2 million barrels of oil. The pirates may be asking for $25 million in ransom.

Mel Gamble, the CIA’s former Chief of Africa Division and Deputy Chief of the European Division, says that he and his former colleagues sometimes attempted to track the pirates at sea. But Somalia’s coast is so long, and there are so many hidden inlets, that “we tended to lose them once they moved inland,” Gamble says.

Gamble spoke today over a conference call with institutional investors organized by a New York brokerage called Wall Street Access. Since retiring from the CIA earlier this year, Gamble has become an adviser to a New York business intelligence firm called Veracity.

The pirates only began venturing out so far into the sea, Gamble said, because Somali warlords crowded them out of the criminal action within the ports themselves. The size of the sea at their feet is enormous, and specifically how the pirates find their targets isn’t certain. However, Gamble said he wouldn’t be surprised if they get tip-offs from acquaintances at ports-of-call where the ships or tankers stop along the way.

Can the area be effectively patrolled by the U.S., European and other navies now present in the area? “No,” Gamble said. “But the military can conduct deterrent operations.”

Also on the phone call was John Blaney, former U.S. ambassador to Liberia, and before that the State Department’s director for a ten-country region in southern Africa. Bret Stephens over at The Wall Street Journal today fretted over what to do with pirates — hang them, like in the old days, or mete out modern justice. But Blaney warned against anything approaching the former. For one thing, he said, some of the pirates are now arming themselves with “shape charges,” ultra-powerful armor-piercing warheads. Such warheads could pierce an oil tanker’s hull. “What are you going to do if three or four pirate boats approach an oil tanker and have seven or eight of these shape charges that can penetrate the cargo?” Blaney asked. “The answer is you surrender the boat.”

Some captains are now equipped with diversionary tactics, such as taking a meandering ‘S’ route until help arrives. Many ships are avoiding the area entirely through a long route around the southern tip of Africa.

Ultimately, Blaney says, the answer may lie in finding a way to work with Somalia to reduce criminality.

Source: Businessweek