JP/5/PIRATE
Piracy rampant in danger zones in North Sumatra, Aceh
Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post Medan, North Sumatra
The North Sumatra Fishery Office has estimated there are at least three hot spots in the waters of North Sumatra and Aceh where piracy is a major danger.
These three hot spots are located in the waters around Aceh Tamiang, in the Strait of Malacca and the seas off Berhala island.
Fishery office head Ridwan Batubara said on Saturday that over the last several months, piracy in those areas had been on the increase, with pirates targeting fishermen.
He said that almost two-thirds of the 12,000 fishing boats in North Sumatra were not operating because of piracy concerns. According to data from the Belawan Fishing Port (PPSB), for the past four months, 30 vessels had been targeted by pirates.
The vessels were seized and while most of the fishermen were able to flee, some were shot and killed.
Ridwan said most of the incidents occurred in the Strait of Malacca. He said there were many foreign-flagged fishing vessels operating in the strait, especially from Thailand, which made local fishermen afraid to venture into the area.
"Thus far, we have not been able to determine if the foreign vessels are involved in the pirate attacks, but it is clear that our fishermen are afraid to go there (Strait of Malacca)," he told The Jakarta Post.
At least 15 Indonesian fishing vessels have been attacked in the Strait of Malacca in the past four months. They were identified as the KM Adidaya 5, KM Sumber Bahagia, MT Cherry 201, KM Palembang I, KM Kurnia Baru 8, KM Surya Samudra 48, KM Selamat Jadi, KM Sumber Jaya I, KM Wulandari II, KM Sumber Citra, KM Anugerah 9, KM Doa Ibu, KM Baginda 3, KM Sumber Lestari and the KM Sumber Sejati.
There have been 11 recorded incidents of piracy around Berhala island in the past four months, and four cases in the waters around Aceh Tamiang.
Agus Leo, a fisherman in Medan, said pirates usually abducted fishermen along with their vessels and then demanded a ransom from the boat owners.
"They usually don't give a second thought to hurting or even killing fishermen if the boat owners do not immediately pay the ransom," said Agus, while urging security personnel to do more to secure the seas.
Ridwan blamed the failure of the security forces to stop piracy on their lack of adequate equipment.
He said it was difficult for Indonesian security forces to defeat pirates because they were ill equipped. "Our government budget is limited. Ideally, there should be a helicopter to monitor the seas from the air, as well as other items like speedboats."
He said piracy was undoubtedly a larger problem than believed because not all incidents were reported to the authorities.
International maritime watchdog the International Maritime Bureau reported recently that Indonesia continued to record the highest number of piracy attacks in the world, with 21 reported incidents in the first quarter of this year out of 79 total attacks worldwide.
In the busy Strait of Malacca, a channel running between Sumatra island and the Malaysian Peninsula to Singapore, attacks rose from three last year to eight in the first quarter of 2004, Reuters quoted the report as saying.