Piracy still haunts Southeast Asian waters<\/p>\n
By Tan Ee Lyn<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): The gray speedboat halted abruptly
\nalongside the fishing vessel and before the fishermen knew what
\nwas happening, a salvo of gunshots shattered the silence and
\npunched holes into the trawler.<\/p>\n
Brandishing guns and knives, six men in camouflaged army
\nuniforms accused the Singapore-flagged trawler of intruding into
\nIndonesian waters. Three of them boarded and ransacked the
\nvessel, taking away Singapore $1,360 (US$971) and a necklace.<\/p>\n
Frustrated by the mediocre takings, the pirates, talking in
\nwhat was recognizably Bahasa Indonesia, demanded S$30,000
\n($21,400) and forced trawler owner Lee Boon Swee to radio for the
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
\"Lee radioed his counterpart (in a boat nearby) and the friend
\nmanaged to gather S$15,000 ($10,700) and surrendered the sum to
\nthe pirates. Only then were the fishermen released,\" an officer
\nwith the Kuala Lumpur-based Regional Piracy Center (RPC), an
\naffiliate of the International Maritime Bureau, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
To cap their raid, the pirates also made off with the vessel's
\ncatch of shrimp and fish.<\/p>\n
The attack, lasting 3-1\/2 hours on the afternoon of May 18 off
\nIndonesia's Bintan island, was just one example of the rising
\nnumber of violent incidents of piracy in Southeast Asian waters
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
While the official number of attacks stood at 24 as of late
\nMay, up from the 14 cases in the same 1994 period, sources said
\nmany more attacks go unreported, especially if they do not
\ninvolve massive sums or fatalities.<\/p>\n
\"The pirates just round up trawlers in an area and extort
\nmoney, a few hundred dollars from each boat. If they don't pay
\nup, the pirates will just cut their fishing nets,\" a captain with
\na shipping-related firm said.<\/p>\n
\"It would cost a lot more to repair the nets, not forgetting
\nthe loss of income in the meantime,\" he said, adding the victims
\nusually pay and only seldom file a report.<\/p>\n
Piracy in Southeast Asia is high and has increased compared
\nwith the rest of the world, accounting for 41 percent of the 58
\ncases worldwide by the end of May this year, according to RPC
\nfigures. In the same period in 1994, piracy in the region
\naccounted for 35 percent of 40 cases.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia were jolted
\non Dec. 11, 1992 when a ship's master and chief officer, both
\nBritons, were killed as their Danish-owned, Bahama-flagged dry
\ncargo vessel was traveling in the Sunda Straits between the
\nIndonesia's Sumatra and Java islands.<\/p>\n
Mutiny<\/p>\n
While the surviving crew said the Britons were killed by two
\narmed pirates believed to be Indonesians, Indonesian authorities
\nhave said the case was mutiny, informed sources said.<\/p>\n
Piracy in Southeast Asian seas rose to notoriety in the late
\n1980s. \"From 1987, piracy (against Danish-flagged ships) was more
\nfrequent around Singapore, South China Sea and Malacca Straits,\"
\nH.H. Petersen of the Danish Shipowners Association in Copenhagen
\ntold Reuters in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n
After a spate of attacks in early 1992, Indonesia and
\nSingapore started joint coordinated patrols, Teh Kong Leong of
\nSingapore's Marine Department said.<\/p>\n
While attacks in Southeast Asia have risen again in the last
\ntwo years, industry sources said waters in this part of the world
\nare safer now than they were in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
\"In 1990, there were at least 200 reported cases of piracy
\nattacks in the Malacca Straits alone. Incidents were highlighted,
\nand when Singapore and Indonesia started to conduct joint
\npatrols, there was a drastic reduction. Now, the situation is
\nmuch better,\" the RPC officer said.<\/p>\n
Petersen said: \"We are still threatened... when we move to the
\nPhilippines, there is (an) increase in attacks... but we see
\ncoordinated efforts by countries involved to remedy the problem.\"<\/p>\n
So long as the attacks continue, there are human as well as
\nbusiness costs. One survivor told Reuters that a sense of
\nisolation and utter helplessness resulting from the attack
\nfrequently haunts her.<\/p>\n
\"When I sleep at night and someone comes in the room, I still
\nget a fright, it was so terrifying,\" said a woman in her late
\n30s, who experienced a pirate attack while at sea with her
\ncaptain-husband aboard a cargo ship five years ago.<\/p>",
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