Fishermen shun Strait of Malacca for fear pirates<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>\n
The North Sumatra Fishery Office has estimated there are at least
\nthree hot spots in the waters of North Sumatra and Aceh where
\npiracy is a major danger.<\/p>\n
These three hot spots are located in the waters around Aceh
\nTamiang, in the Strait of Malacca and the seas off Berhala
\nisland.<\/p>\n
Fishery office head Ridwan Batubara said on Saturday that over
\nthe last several months, piracy in those areas had been on the
\nincrease, with pirates targeting fishermen.<\/p>\n
He said that almost two-thirds of the 12,000 fishing boats in
\nNorth Sumatra were not operating because of piracy concerns.
\nAccording to data from the Belawan Fishing Port (PPSB), for the
\npast four months, 30 vessels had been targeted by pirates.<\/p>\n
The vessels were seized and while most of the fishermen
\nwere able to flee, some were shot and killed.<\/p>\n
Ridwan said most of the incidents occurred in the Strait of
\nMalacca. He said there were many foreign-flagged fishing vessels
\noperating in the strait, especially from Thailand, which made
\nlocal fishermen afraid to venture into the area.<\/p>\n
"Thus far, we have not been able to determine if the foreign
\nvessels are involved in the pirate attacks, but it is clear that
\nour fishermen are afraid to go there (Strait of Malacca)," he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
At least 15 Indonesian fishing vessels have been attacked in
\nthe Strait of Malacca in the past four months. They were
\nidentified as the KM Adidaya 5, KM Sumber Bahagia,
\nMT Cherry 201, KM Palembang I, KM Kurnia Baru 8,
\nKM Surya Samudra 48, KM Selamat Jadi, KM Sumber Jaya I,
\nKM Wulandari II, KM Sumber Citra, KM Anugerah 9, KM Doa
\nIbu, KM Baginda 3, KM Sumber Lestari and the KM Sumber
\nSejati.<\/p>\n
There have been 11 recorded incidents of piracy around Berhala
\nisland in the past four months, and four cases in the waters
\naround Aceh Tamiang.<\/p>\n
Agus Leo, a fisherman in Medan, said pirates usually abducted
\nfishermen along with their vessels and then demanded a ransom
\nfrom the boat owners.<\/p>\n
"They usually don't give a second thought to hurting or even
\nkilling fishermen if the boat owners do not immediately pay the
\nransom," said Agus, while urging security personnel to do more to
\nsecure the seas.<\/p>\n
Ridwan blamed the failure of the security forces to stop
\npiracy on their lack of adequate equipment.<\/p>\n
He said it was difficult for Indonesian security forces to
\ndefeat pirates because they were ill equipped. "Our government
\nbudget is limited. Ideally, there should be a helicopter to
\nmonitor the seas from the air, as well as other items like
\nspeedboats."<\/p>\n
He said piracy was undoubtedly a larger problem than believed
\nbecause not all incidents were reported to the authorities.<\/p>\n
International maritime watchdog the International Maritime
\nBureau reported recently that Indonesia continued to record the
\nhighest number of piracy attacks in the world, with 21 reported
\nincidents in the first quarter of this year out of 79 total
\nattacks worldwide.<\/p>\n
In the busy Strait of Malacca, a channel running between
\nSumatra island and the Malaysian Peninsula to Singapore, attacks
\nrose from three last year to eight in the first quarter of 2004,
\nReuters quoted the report as saying.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fishermen-shun-strait-of-malacca-for-fear-pirates-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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