Malaysia says its beating back Malacca Strait piracy

Malaysia says its beating back Malacca Strait piracy

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): High-speed patrol boats and overnight surveillance have helped Malaysia sharply cut the number of pirate attacks in the Strait of Malacca, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Pirates attacked 32 vessels in the narrow straits between Malaysia and Indonesia's island of Sumatra, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, in the first nine months of last year.

Attacks worldwide for the whole of 2000 jumped 57 percent and left 72 sailors dead, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which runs the Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur.

In the first four months of this year only three attacks were reported in Malaysia's stretch of the Strait, Malaysian Marine Police Chief Mohamad Muda told Reuters.

Only one was successful, he said in a phone interview from southern Johor state.

Mohamad credited the fall to a task force set up to fight piracy. Equipped with six high-speed boats, the force cruises the Strait nightly between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.

"We are stronger. If they attack any ship in the Strait of Malacca they know we will go after them. We have created a sense of fear in the enemy," Mohamad said.

"The trend of incidents has shifted from Malaysian to Indonesian waters," he added.

The Strait of Malacca also passes through Singapore and Indonesian territory.

Indonesian waters recorded the highest number of piracies with 119 incidents last year. No figures were immediately available for attacks in 2001.

Mohamad said despite the fall in incidents off Malaysia's coast, police would still follow any ship that requested an escort as it passed through its waters.

Police also recommend that ships move in a convoy and not late at night.

The International Maritime Bureau has blamed political unrest and economic recession in Indonesia for the wave of attacks in the Strait.