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On the sea front

On the sea front

Piracy attacks are on the increase, but measures are being taken to combat the problem.Trevor Hollingsbee reports

International Maritime Bureau (IMB) statistics show that attacks upon merchant ships are an increasingly severe problem. There were 229 such incidents reported in 1997, compared to 107 in 1991.

About 50 per cent of attacks go unreported. Formal investigation is often seen as a costly, time-consuming and inconclusive process. The main concern of many ship owners after incidents is to resume trading as soon as possible.

Reports indicate that Southeast Asia is the worst area for violent attacks on merchant vessels, accounting for 108 last year. Indonesian waters were particularly dangerous, with 47 reported incidents; African waters saw 41 attacks; while 30 merchant ships were victimised in South America.

The use, or threatened use, of firearms, was a feature of 68 attacks on merchant vessels last year. Ships were boarded surreptitiously at anchor, or alongside in port. Many attacks were launched from fast craft on the high seas. Cargoes and equipment, were stolen. Crew members were robbed and taken hostage.

Vessels were hijacked, with their crews then being forced to sail to destinations selected by their attackers for illegal disposal of cargoes.

Key statistics from IMB records of last year's attacks are: Ships forcibly boarded - 163; attempted boardings - 14; ships hijacked - 14; ships fired upon at sea - 26; ships subject to robbery or theft alongside - two; not classified - three. In seven other cases ships were detained in dubious circumstances, ostensibly by official personnel.

The South China Sea poses particular problems. China claims jurisdiction over most of it and the Chinese Government applies its laws, even in the many areas of the South China Sea which are also claimed by other nations.

Three separate Chinese security forces share responsibilities for combating crime at sea. These are the Marine Police (a division of the Public Security Bureau), Customs (an independent service), and the Border Security Service (subordinated to the People's Liberation Army).

All three of these services have been considerably expanded in recent years.

Between them they operate several hundred armed and radar equipped patrol craft.

The three services take enforcement action over a very large sea area, bounded by Vietnam, Taiwan and The Philippines. Missions of up to two weeks duration are undertaken. Shipping movements are monitored by these patrols and suspicious vessels are stopped and searched.

China devotes much of this offshore effort towards countering smuggling, but these maritime operations have also had some success against piracy, intercepting and detaining at least three pirated vessels in the last two years.

In the latest of these interceptions, the Malaysian tanker Petro Ranger, which had been reported missing, was intercepted off Southern China in April by a Chinese Marine Police patrol. Twelve suspected pirates on board were arrested, and the ship was taken to Haikou, on Hainan Island, where it was detained.

China's anti-smuggling and anti-piracy tactics are not confined to routine patrols. Hong Kong police sources confirm that highly organised, intelligence-based operations are carried out by the Chinese, particularly against ships trading between the former British colony and Vietnam and Cambodia.

These operations frequently involve intelligence-gathering agents in Hong Kong, who gather details about suspect vessels and their movements. Information thus acquired enables eventual interception of these vessels at sea.

China's enforcement action in this area has attracted considerable controversy. Members of the shipping industry have spoken out against what they have seen as arbitrary interceptions of merchant ships. There have also been allegations of extortion and corrupt practice, particularly in respect of ships detained in ports by the Public Security Bureau.

China's extensive maritime patrolling effort is matched by few nations. Marine policing is notoriously difficult and expensive, and few countries can afford a dedicated coastguard to take charge of security at sea. It has high costs and demands long duty hours and specialist training. Results are usually limited, so heavy expenditure is difficult to justify.

Police budgets therefore seldom stretch to providing more than token coverage of either coastal or offshore sea areas. Territorial claims often pose daunting jurisdictional headaches.

Important problems which confront the many agencies which are attempting to deal effectively with criminal attacks on shipping can best be summarised as:

*lack of political will

*inadequate funding

*national sensitivities over territorial demarcation and jurisdiction

*remoteness of areas in which many such crimes take place

*reluctance to report such crimes.

There are answers to many of these problems, though. In 1992 IMB established the Regional Piracy Centre (RPC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Funded by the international shipping community, the RPC has shown the value of assiduous intelligence gathering.

It is managed by a Master Mariner, and permanently manned by former Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) watch-keeping personnel. RPC manager, Captain Noel Chung explains that the centre receives reports, by fax and radio, from vessels which have been subjected to attacks.

The RPC then alerts other merchant vessels in the area, and the relevant law enforcement agencies. Regular threat warnings, based on analysis of reports received, are also broadcast by the RPC, using the INMARSAT communications system.

The centre collates and analyses information on criminal attacks on shipping, and circulates frequent reports to many interested parties, including the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), law enforcement bodies and the media.

The RPC provides 'a platform for concerted action to protect merchant shipping,' says Capt Chung. He also gives credit to the RMN for determined action, pointing out that: 'The RMN's Maritime Enforcement Control Centre (MECC) system has made the Malacca Straits safe for merchant shipping.'

During the early 1990s the Straits were infamous for armed attacks on shipping. Routine patrols were failing to provide a deterrent, so the Malaysian Government came up with a radical solution.

In 1995 the RMN established sea surveillance and control along the Malaysian coast of the Malacca Straits by means of the MECC, situated at Lumut.

The MECC is linked to coastal radar sub-stations to provide constant radar coverage of the Straits. Radio, fax, and telephone links ensure rapid communication with enforcement agencies. Some patrols are carried out jointly by Malaysian and Indonesian forces.

'The MECC provides constant surveillance, and immediate response to incidents. We co-ordinate action by vessels and aircraft of our navy, marine police, Customs and air force. This is how we have stopped piracy in the Malacca Straits,' says MECC's deputy superintendent Syed Mo Difuze. In 1991 there were 31 attacks in the Malacca Straits. Last year there were none.

IMB director Captain Pottengal says the Bureau plans to place a specialist marine investigator at the RPC.

'The object of this follow-up scheme is to systematically gather all relevant information concerning a major piracy incident, then to use it to increase the pressure for action upon the country from which the attack originated, and to heighten public awareness of piracy,' he says.

The IMB investigator will be on immediate notice to proceed to vessels which have suffered serious attacks at sea.

IMB is now negotiating with the International Transport Workers Federation to ensure that their investigators will be allowed access to ships' crews.

The IMO is giving attacks upon merchant shipping renewed attention. According to its London-based information officer, Roger Kohn, multi-disciplinary task groups are being formed to look into the problem on a regional basis, and to make recommendations for solutions. They will include representatives from shipping, law enforcement and other government agencies.

Plans for a series of regional seminars are well advanced. The first will be held in Brazil in October, followed by similar gatherings in Singapore and Nigeria in 1999.

The Malaysians and IMB have shown that the scourge of piracy can be overcome. It is hoped that the IMO can persuade other nations to allocate adequate resources to ensure greater security for the world's merchant vessels.

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