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.