OT/ Pirates Plague Shipping Lanes Off Indonesia, Malaysia (Update1)
By Tan Hwee Ann
Singapore, Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysian-registered tanker MT Petchem sailed from Port Dickson in Malaysia in September through the Strait of Malacca bound for Kuching in Sarawak, laden with a cargo of gas oil that it never delivered.
About 20 masked pirates armed with machetes swarmed aboard the ship and offloaded $700,000 of cargo into another tanker in one of last year's most flagrant incidents of piracy in Southeast Asian waters. That case and many others remain unsolved.
Worldwide piracy soared 56 percent last year to at least a 10- year high, with 469 incidents and 72 deaths, the International Maritime Bureau said in a report yesterday. More than half the attacks were in Southeast Asia, with a quarter near Indonesia, making the region's waters the world's most dangerous.
``We see no drop in the number of attacks, and in a modern world this is intolerable,'' said Flemming Ipsen, chief executive of Maersk Singapore, part of the world's largest shipping company, A.P. Moeller.
While piracy -- from hijacking ships to petty theft while they are berthed -- hasn't yet hurt trade flows in the region, which is home to one of the world's busiest container ports in Singapore, analysts warn that it may eventually crimp profits and force shippers to rethink their routes. Analysts say that up to 33 percent of global shipping moves through Southeast Asian waters, which lie between Europe and Asia's trading states.
``The effect of piracy on trade is to increase the cost to shippers, carriers and insurers, which eventually could drive the cost of shipping goods though Southeast Asian waters into the zone of unprofitability,'' said Dana Dillon, a Southeast Asia analyst with the Heritage Foundation in Washington. ``I think the first sign of that will be when carriers begin to boycott particularly dangerous ports in Indonesia.''
Avoiding Indonesia
Singapore-based shipping company Chuan Hup Holdings Ltd. is already avoiding Indonesian waters around Bangka, an island near Sumatra, after being raided by pirates twice.
``In one case, the boarding was detected and we flushed the pirates off the side of the ship with a fire hose, but now we try to pass further away,'' said Tay Peng Chay, operations superintendent of Chuan Hup.
Political instability and economic problems plaguing Indonesia are fueling the increase in piracy, analysts said. Amid hints of official corruption and rogue military involvement, desperation is leading people to commit crimes that the Indonesian government lacks the will or ability to contain.
The per capita income of Indonesians fell from $1,000 in 1995 to $540 in 1999, the World Bank said, as the world's fourth-most populous country continues to claw its way back from its worst recession in decades.
``Indonesia remains the most piracy-prone country in the world,'' the Maritime Bureau's report said, naming six ports there, including the country's capital, Jakarta, as pirate- infested areas.
The Indonesian military budget covers only a quarter of its costs, with the rest coming from military-owned businesses.
``Many of the nation's soldiers and sailors are grossly underpaid,'' said Dillon, a former U.S. Army specialist on the region. ``A chronic need to supplement their military pay is a motive for security forces to collude or participate in acts of piracy.''
Many incidents reported by shippers are merely thieves creeping aboard berthed ships and making off with wallets and other valuables.
``They're opportunists who go for cash and disposables,'' said Muhamad Muda, commander of Malaysia's Marine Police. ``Mostly they're poor fellows, with some ex-prisoners and repeat offenders.''
Pirates who work in organized groups are more ambitious, often armed with guns and getting away on speed boats, while seeming to be informed about the passage of ships and their cargoes. Malaysian police captured two gangs late last year that were operating in the Straits of Malacca.
``Pirates have attacked by climbing commando-style up the sterns of underway vessels,'' Muda said, often striking after midnight.
Thousands of Islands
Malaysia plans to spend 200 million ringgit ($53 million) this year to buy 30 new patrol and speed boats to fight piracy, Muda said.
To be sure, apprehending pirates who conceal themselves among the region's thousands of islands and coves is not easy. International borders also make efforts by any one country difficult.
The hijacking of Japan's Alondra Rainbow and its cargo of aluminum ingots in late 1999 prompted Japanese shipping officials to propose the formation of a United Nations coast guard to combat piracy in Asia's shipping lanes.
Still, little has been done. ``A lot has been written and spoken, but I have my doubts whether the protection is there,'' said Ipsen, echoing other shippers.
Pacific Carriers Ltd., a shipping company whose vessels call at Indonesian ports, was another recent victim when men armed with knives boarded one of its ships and robbed crew members.
``The ports in Indonesia have been quite mediocre in their response,'' said Phua Cheng Tar, a director of Pacific Carriers. ``Maybe they don't have enough surveillance equipment or patrol boats.''
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