The Hindu Business Line : Tight vigilance reduces pirate attacks on ships

INCREASED vigilance by the Coast Guard has reduced the number of pirate attacks on ships in India, Malaysia and the Philippine waters in the first three months of 2004.

These three nations reported no incident of pirate attacks in the first quarter, says a recent report by the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau (ICC IMB) that monitors pirate attacks world over.

The significant reduction in pirate attacks in India, Malaysia and the Philippines in the March quarter was due to positive action taken by the Indian Coast Guard, the Royal Malaysian Police and the Philippine Coastguard in their waters.

"We would like to see a similar determination and commitment of resources from law enforcement agencies in those areas where the attacks remain at high levels," Capt. P. Mukundan, Director of the ICC IMB, which operates the Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, said in a release.

A senior official of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in Chennai said that vigil in Indian waters and around Pacific Rim has been intensified in the last few months.

Further, ICG along with its counterparts in Japan, Thailand and Malaysia has been carrying out regular joint exercises in Asian waters and around the Pacific Rim. The law enforcement agencies are also exchanging critical information on vessels operating in Asian-Pacific waters. A large database is now available on vessels operating in the region, he said.

In the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, the ICG increased its vigil, including aircraft surveillance, in the last few months. There is now regular interaction between the ICG and local government officials, port trusts and police to create more awareness on piracy-related issues, the official said.

The ICC IMB said that globally the total number of pirate attacks reported dropped to 79 compared to 103 in the first quarter of 2003. This may not necessarily indicate that the situation is getting better.

For example, the corresponding figure for the first quarter of 2000 was 56 incidents, but the year ended with highest recorded number of attacks, the report said.

Indonesia recorded the highest number of pirate attacks with 21 reported incidents in March quarter of 2004. Pirate attacks in Nigeria were ranked second highest with 10 attacks and Bangladesh and Malacca Straits were third with eight incidents each.

In 2003, pirate attacks worldwide increased in frequency and violence last year, with a total of 445 incidents reported compared with 370 in 2002. In the Indian sub-continent there were 87 incidents of pirate attacks in 2003 compared to 57 the previous year, the ICC IMB reported.