JP/5/PIRATE

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.