Busy first half for pirates in region

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Jul 2009

THE first half of the year was a busy time for pirates in the region, with an apparent shift in focus as incidents declined in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia and rose in the South China Sea and Strait of Malacca as well as ports and anchorages in Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
While the total number of incidents fell to 43 from a year ago, the number of successful attacks rose by two to 38, according to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre's latest half-year report.
The seriousness of the attacks has also increased with a rise in the number of Category 2 or moderately significant attacks. These more than doubled to 16 from seven in the first half of 2008. The more serious incidents have tended to occur with vessels underway with 14 taking place on vessels at sea compared to just two on ships berthed or at anchor.
Most of these incidents occurred in the South China China Sea off Malaysia's Pulau Aur and the straits of Malacca and Singapore. The preferred target has been tugboats and tankers.
The former tends to be attacked while underway as they are vulnerable due to their slow speed and lack of manoeuvrability while engaging in towing operations, low freeboard and generally smaller crew numbers. The latter, meanwhile, is usually attacked by opportunistic petty thieves at remote berths and anchorages where they may spend relatively longer periods of time loading or discharging cargo with less crew onboard.
Of the 43 incidents overall, 11 were on tankers, nine on container ships and eight each on tugs and bulk carriers respectively. Nine of the 11 incidents involving tankers were in ports and anchorages of Kakinada and Kochi in India, Sandakan in East Malaysia, Balongan and Jakarta anchorages in Indonesia and Vung Tau anchorage in Vietnam. They were all Cat 3 or less significant incidents. The remaining two incidents took place off Mangkai Light and Pulau Damar in the South China Sea and both were Cat 2 incidents.
The weather appears to have played a major part in the nature of the attacks in the region. Most of the in-port attacks occurred in South Asian ports where the monsoon is in full swing and robbers have taken advantage of reduced visibility during stormy weather to board ships and steal stores.
The attacks in the South China Sea, however, have all been on vessels underway, suggesting that the pirates are taking advantage of the relatively better weather and calmer seas to maximise their attacks. Notably, four attacks on consecutive days took place between June 25 and June 28 in roughly the same area off Mangkai Light and moving progressively southwards. In all, a total of 11 incidents have been reported in the area in the first half compared to just four in the same period last year.
ReCAAP noted a similarity in the pattern of attacks last year and in the first half of this year. Of the four incidents in 2008, there was one each in April, June, September and October while there were no attacks during November to March. Most of the attacks were Category 2 incidents with the pirates making off with crew valuables such as laptops, mobile phones and cash.
'Although not conclusive, the mode of operations in the various incidents suggest that the same gang of pirates/robbers may be involved,' it said. The range of vessels attacked suggests that the pirates are area-dependent and opportunistic and likely operating in the cross-border fringe judging from the use of Bahasa Indonesia as noted by crew members of attacked vessels.

Source: Business Times Singapore