[Kabar-indonesia] Piracy attacks worldwide fall to 174 in first 9 months

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Shipping Times
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Piracy attacks worldwide fall to 174 in first 9 months

By George Joseph

Indonesia remains global hotspot but cases drop to 40 from
61 previously

SINGAPORE --  Reported piracy attacks worldwide are on the
decline. Latest statistics show that the number of attacks
through to the end of the third quarter 2006 decreased to
174, 30 less than the 205 that occurred in the first three
quarters of 2005.

For the littoral states of the Straits of Malacca, the good
news is that Indonesia saw a reduction in piracy attacks
while Bangladesh was a hotspot where the situation
deteriorated.

Its Chittagong port recorded an alarming 33 incidents during
the quarter under review. With 22 actual and 11 attempted
attacks in and around the port, Chittagong took the dubious
distinction of being named the world's most dangerous port.

In its quarterly Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships
report, the ICC International Maritime Bureau notes that
ships were boarded in 113 instances and 11 ships were
hijacked. There were 163 crew taken hostage, 20 kidnapped,
and six were killed.

IMB director Captain P Mukundan credited 'those law
enforcement agencies responding to incidents in high risk
areas' for this welcome reduction in attacks. However he
stressed that piracy continues to be a serious concern.

However, while Indonesia still accounted for more attacks
than any other country, consolidating its position as the
world's hottest piracy hotspot, incidents of piracy and
armed robbery in Indonesian waters dropped from 61 to 40 in
2006, versus the same period in 2005, according to the
report.

Increased patrols were responsible for the reduction in
Indonesian piracy attacks, it said.

Elsewhere, the IMB report notes that the Malacca Strait has
been dropped from Lloyd's of London's list of dangerous
waterways. This, it said, was due largely to improvements in
security implemented by the littoral states bordering the
Straits.

Worldwide, there were more attacks on container ships, 37
compared to 24 in the first nine months of 2006 compared
with the same period last year, while attacks on bulk
carriers, general cargo ships and tankers have reduced.

The IMB noted that attempts have been made to deal with the
problem in Bangladesh. A joint Coast Guard and Navy
operation recently to capture pirates in the Bay of Bengal
involved 17 navy vessels and 3,000 Coast Guard personnel. A
shoot-out led to the deaths of two pirates.

Another area singled out for mention is Nigeria where the
attacks were more violent.

In one incident 23 pirates armed with knives attacked a
ship. 'These attacks are symptomatic of a rise in the number
of incidents against foreign oil workers in Nigeria,' the
report said.

Eight attacks were reported off the eastern coast of Somalia
where pirates armed with guns and grenades attacked ships
and fired upon them. Although there have been no recent
incidents, the eastern north-eastern coasts of Somalia
continue to be high-risk areas for hijackings.

IMB warned that ships not making scheduled calls to ports in
these areas should stay at least 75 miles or as far away as
practical from the coast.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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