RI the world's top pirates 'playground': Watchdog

RI the world's top pirates 'playground': Watchdog

Agence France-Presse,
Kuala Lumpur

Indonesia was the most dangerous country in the world for
seafarers during the first nine months of this year, an
international piracy watchdog said on Thursday.

Out of a total of 251 pirate attacks worldwide, 70 took place
in Indonesian waters, said the Malaysia-based Piracy Reporting
Center of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Although the number of raids in Indonesia was down from 87 in
the same period last year, the southeast Asian archipelago still
headed the list of piracy-prone countries.

There were another 25 attacks in the Malacca Strait between
Indonesia and Malaysia, while 18 were reported in Nigeria, 15 in
Bangladesh, 10 in India and eight in the Singapore Strait, the
center said.

Thirty crew members were killed in the attacks around the
world and 21 were still missing.

The IMB hailed a plan by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to
mount coordinated patrols in the Malacca Strait to curb piracy.
But it pushed for a policy of "hot pursuit" under which naval
vessels from one country could enter the waters of another in an
attempt to capture pirates.

"We hope for more cooperation and patrols in the waters off
Indonesia under the new president (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) to
stamp out piracy," Noel Choong, regional manager of the Piracy
Reporting Center, told AFP.

The IMB said oil and gas tankers and bulk carriers were
popular targets as they moved slowly and were low in the water
when fully laden. There were 67 attacks on tankers and 52 on bulk
carriers.

The pirate attacks have fulled fears that terrorists could
hijack a tanker to use as a floating bomb in a maritime version
of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

"We do not have any evidence to suggest that terror groups are
planning attacks using tankers but we cannot discount the
possibility," Choong said.

In one incident, an Indonesian tanker MT Cherry 201 was
attacked and hijacked by armed pirates in the Malacca Strait on
January 5.

The pirates took 13 crew members hostage but released the
captain to negotiate a ransom. After a month of negotiations,
four crewmen were shot dead while the others managed to escape.

The IMB said a total of 186 crew members were taken hostage
during the period.