Pirate attacks at all time high, Ri tops danger list

Pirate attacks at all time high, Ri tops danger list

M. Jegathesan, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Piracy on the international high seas surged 37 percent to an
all-time high of 234 attacks from January to June this year, with
16 seafarers killed, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said
on Wednesday.

Ships were boarded in 165 instances and nine ships were
hijacked, the Kuala Lumpur-based IMB Piracy Reporting Center said
in a statement.

The number of deaths of seafarers around the world was sharply
up, with 16 killed and 52 injured compared to six killed and 21
injured in the same period last year.

Indonesian waters were the most dangerous, "accounting for
over one quarter of the world total with 64 incidents."

Bangladesh was second worst with a doubling of attacks to 23
from 11 in 2002, while third place went to Nigeria and India with
18 attacks each, up from eight and 12 respectively.

The IMB said Chittagong, Lagos, Cochin, Chennai, Dakar and Rio
Haina were among the ports that were most prone to attacks.

In Indonesian waters, 43 ships were boarded, four ships were
hijacked and attempted attacks were made on another 17 ships.

There were 44 attacks during the same period last year.
"It (Indonesia) was also the location where the greatest violence
was experienced, with many of the pirates armed with guns and
knives," the report said.

London-based IMB director Pottengal Mukundan expressed concern
in the rise of violent attacks and urged Indonesia to take
serious steps to address the problem.

The IMB said there were worrying signs that opportunist
thieves were becoming increasingly organized.

"It is vital that coastal states in these and other risk prone
areas deploy patrol vessels capable of dealing with these
incidents and ensure that these criminals do not treat these
waters as a pirate's charter.

"We would like to see the arrest and prosecution of these
gangs," Mukundan said in a statement.

The number of attacks using guns almost doubled to 53 during
the first six months of 2003 and attacks using knives rose to 80
from 57. Incidents of crew members taken hostage almost doubled
to 193.

Describing some of the violent attacks, the IMB recorded that
on Feb. 7 pirates opened fire at crewmembers of a Ukrainian
tanker in Brazil. The chief officer was shot in the head and
killed. The second officer was also shot and seriously wounded.
Pirates stole crew belongings and escaped.

In an incident in Indonesia, a Malaysian chemical tanker was
attacked while underway by pirates in four boats armed with AK47
weapons. The chief engineer sustained a gunshot wound to his
head.

On April 8, an Indonesian cargo ship was fired upon and forced
to stop. Pirates boarded the ship, stole equipment and kidnapped
the master, chief engineer and chief officer. Most kidnapped crew
members are held for ransom.

Noel Choong, Malaysian-based IMB's regional director
attributed the high rate of piracy in Indonesia to two factors.

"Its domestic economic woes and lack of anti-piracy patrols
contributed to the problem," he told AFP.

Choong said the IMB realized that Indonesia has a huge
coastline but if there were no patrols in the hotspots, attacks
would continue.

The IMB identified Adang Bay, Balikpapan, Dumai, Gaspar
Straits, Anambas and Bintan Islands as among the most piracy-
prone areas.