Malaysia, Indonesia and RP discuss piracy

Malaysia, Indonesia and RP discuss piracy

Eileen Ng, Associated Press/Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia is in talks with Indonesia and the Philippines to allow their naval forces to pursue pirates in each other's waters in what could be a bold new effort to eliminate the scourge, a senior security official said on Thursday.

Separately, an anti-piracy watchdog rejected a proposal to use private armed guards to escort commercial vehicles in the Malacca Strait, the world's busiest and most pirate-infested waterway, saying it could be counterproductive.

Abdul Hadi Rashid, director of the Maritime Enforcement Coordinating Center, said Malaysia has a mechanism in place with Indonesia and the Philippines on coastal surveillance and security, but there was no agreement to allow the pursuit of pirates in each other's territorial waters.

"This is still at a discussion level," he told a symposium on regional cruising here, while addressing concerns about maritime safety. He did not elaborate.

Allowing naval and marine police of the countries into their waters would be an unprecedented step for the three Southeast Asian countries who zealously guard their territorial integrity. A Sulawesi Sea territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia led to souring of relations between them recently.

Abdul Hadi said Malaysia has put up radar systems along the Malacca Strait and would establish a new coast guard enforcement agency soon to step up security in the shipping lane, which carries half the world's oil and a third of its commerce.

Addressing the same conference, Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) piracy center, urged coastal states to consider placing a liaison officer on each other's navy vessels so that they could obtain immediate approval to chase pirates crossing into another country's waters.

"Pirates operate often along territorial borders because they know there is no right of pursue across territorial waters. We want to see some mechanism within the region to improve bilateral cooperation," he said.

Mukundan warned however, the use of mercenaries and private guards to safeguard merchant vessels could create new risks, such as the use of force in the name of self-defense, emergency medical assistance and the vetting of the armed guards.

"There are a lot of questions which have to be properly answered and I think the coastal states are quite rightly concerned," he told reporters later.

"Vulnerable ships, in particular, crossing the Strait should be escorted by law enforcement agencies, not private entities."

Mukundan singled out Indonesia as the weak link in the region due to its lack of resources.

Last year, the London-based IMB recorded 37 pirate attacks in the narrow, 800-kilometer shipping lane despite coordinated patrols by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.