Malaysia says its beating back Malacca Strait piracy<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): High-speed patrol boats and overnight
\nsurveillance have helped Malaysia sharply cut the number of
\npirate attacks in the Strait of Malacca, a senior police officer
\nsaid on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Pirates attacked 32 vessels in the narrow straits between
\nMalaysia and Indonesia's island of Sumatra, one of the world's
\nbusiest shipping lanes, in the first nine months of last year.<\/p>\n
Attacks worldwide for the whole of 2000 jumped 57 percent and
\nleft 72 sailors dead, according to the International Maritime
\nBureau, which runs the Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
In the first four months of this year only three attacks were
\nreported in Malaysia's stretch of the Strait, Malaysian Marine
\nPolice Chief Mohamad Muda told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Only one was successful, he said in a phone interview from
\nsouthern Johor state.<\/p>\n
Mohamad credited the fall to a task force set up to fight
\npiracy. Equipped with six high-speed boats, the force cruises the
\nStrait nightly between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.<\/p>\n
"We are stronger. If they attack any ship in the Strait of
\nMalacca they know we will go after them. We have created a sense
\nof fear in the enemy," Mohamad said.<\/p>\n
"The trend of incidents has shifted from Malaysian to
\nIndonesian waters," he added.<\/p>\n
The Strait of Malacca also passes through Singapore and
\nIndonesian territory.<\/p>\n
Indonesian waters recorded the highest number of piracies with
\n119 incidents last year. No figures were immediately available
\nfor attacks in 2001.<\/p>\n
Mohamad said despite the fall in incidents off Malaysia's
\ncoast, police would still follow any ship that requested an
\nescort as it passed through its waters.<\/p>\n
Police also recommend that ships move in a convoy and not late
\nat night.<\/p>\n
The International Maritime Bureau has blamed political unrest
\nand economic recession in Indonesia for the wave of attacks in
\nthe Strait.<\/p>",
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