'Piracy incidents declined in 1994'

'Piracy incidents declined in 1994'

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Incidents of piracy worldwide declined in 1994 but increased dramatically in Indonesian waters, the Regional Piracy Center said yesterday.

In its annual Piracy Report, the center said there were 90 incidents of piracy across the world in 1994 against 103 in 1993 and 115 in 1992.

But piracy in Southeast Asia shot up after being on the wane in recent years, with 33 incidents reported in 1994 against 15 the year before. Incidents in the Indonesian archipelago doubled to 22 from 11.

More promising has been the reduction in incidents in the Far East, with 38 attacks reported against 68 in 1993, the center said. The Hong Kong-Luzon-Hainan area had 14 incidents -- the most after Indonesia worldwide.