Malaysia to host piracy conference

Malaysia to host piracy conference

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): International piracy experts will meet here next week to discuss the shift of piracy attacks northwards from Southeast Asia and the problem of "phantom" ships, officials said yesterday.

The two-day meeting opening on July 19, will be hosted by the Kuala Lumpur-based regional piracy center of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), will be attended by officials from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and the Interpol secretariat.

"It is mainly a meeting to exchange ideas, but the theme would be to enhance efforts to check the rise in phantom ships and pirate attacks worldwide, particularly north of Southeast Asia," Mazlan Abdul Samad, IMB's Far East regional manager told AFP.