The Hindu Business Line : Drop in global piracy attacks: IMB

WORLDWIDE reported piracy attacks in 2005 fell to 276 from 329 in 2004, the lowest figure recorded since 1999, according to ICC International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) 2005 annual report on Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships.

IMB is a non-profit making organisation established to fight all types of maritime crime and malpractice.

IMB attributes the drop in attacks to increased awareness and anti-piracy watches by shipmasters in risk prone areas coupled with an increase in law enforcement patrols and increased pressure on certain governments to act.

The report notes an increase of pirate activity in areas such as Somalia, Iraq, Tanzania and Vietnam. It highlights the need for continued and concerted action, and calls on regional law enforcement agencies in these areas to increase their efforts to combat this menace.

There were 440 crewmembers taken hostage in 2005, the highest since IMB started compiling statistics in 1992. The hostages were taken in incidents in Somalia, Indonesia and Nigeria. Twenty-three vessels were hijacked, the highest in the past four years.

On the positive side, the report says action by agencies in Indonesia and the Malacca Straits, has proven to be effective. These came by way of Operation Gurita, a show of force in known hotspots, and during several intelligence-led actions that resulted in gangs of pirates being caught and at least six small vessels being recovered.

The figures show a drop in attacks in Indonesia to 79 from 94 last year — though accounting for nearly 30 per cent of all reported attacks — and a fall in the Malacca Straits to 12 from 38 in 2004.

Other countries to witness a fall are Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Nigeria and Guinea. No crewmember was killed last year, though 12 still remain missing, the report said.

Somalia at No.2: Somalia and Iraq witnessed a major escalation in pirate activity in their waters. Somalia recorded 35 attacks during 2005, there were two in 2004. Five ships are currently held captive in Somali waters. The increased attacks now rank Somalia second behind Indonesia in the table of world piracy risk prone areas and the most dangerous waters in Africa.

A particular feature of the attacks off northeast and eastern coasts of Somalia in 2005 was that they took place further off the coast. This led to the Kuala Lumpur-based IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC), which is funded by 22 organisations including P&I Clubs, ship owners and insurers, to issue daily warnings to ships to stay at least 200 nautical miles offshore.

The pirates are believed to be working from `mother ships' and regularly use guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers in their capture of vessels, which are subsequently taken into Somali waters where ship and crew are held to ransom.

Iraq stands out as a new world piracy hotspot, according to the report, which records 10 attacks in 2005 compared to none the year before. IMB says opportunists whose main motivation is robbery and financial gain, and who use extreme violence towards crews in most cases perpetrate these attacks. They are very quick and primarily attack vessels at anchor in the vicinity of Basrah oil terminal and Umm Qasr, from small boats.

The report highlights one against an LPG tanker at anchor where three robbers boarded carrying machine guns, held the Master and Second Officer at gunpoint and fired a shot that narrowly missed the Master before forcing him to open the ship's safe. In other cases, several crewmembers were seriously assaulted and injured.

On Indian waters: About 15 cases of piracy attacks were reported on various ships in the Indian waters, while Bangladesh saw about 21 attacks last year. Chennai and Kandla saw four attacks each on ships and the rest was spread among other major ports, according to IMB.