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Maritime Piracy Increasing Dramatically
Stephanie Mann, Voice of America Incidents of maritime piracy have increased dramatically over the past decade, and the pirates are becoming bolder and more sophisticated in their assaults on ships. Governments, shipping companies and security firms are trying to rise to the challenge to foil the attacks. Pirates wearing a black eyepatch and burying treasure chests of jewels may be the stuff of musical theater and legends. But that romantic notion of old-time bucaneers is far from the truth. "The growing trend in the past few years of piracy is just incredibly bloody and ruthless," said Tom Keller, who works for a San Francisco company called MAST, which trains ships' crews and security guards to protect vessels from pirate attacks. "We're talking about large organized crime syndicates as well as your down-on-his-luck local who's trying to sneak aboard the ship to try to steal something. It's definitely turned more bloody due to modern weapons and means of locating the vessel, getting to the vessel, things like that, in today's world than it definitely was in years gone by." The cost of pirate attacks is estimated at $16 billion a year. Ships carrying valuable bulk cargo such as fuel oil or aluminum are often targets, but Mr. Keller says sometimes the ship itself is the prize. A couple of years ago pirates attacked a freighter, beat to death the 20 crewmembers, and used forged papers to change the ship's identity. Its original cargo was merely furnace slag, waste product from a steel factory. Last year 469 piracy attacks were reported, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce. That's about four and a half times higher than the number of pirate attacks in 1991. And the bureau says 72 seamen were killed by pirates last year, up from three deaths the previous year. At a recent anti-piracy conference in Kuala Lumpur, the maritime bureau's director blamed the rise in piracy in Southeast Asia on the economic and political troubles in Indonesia. Tom Keller agrees, saying some governments in the region have not been able to allocate the extra manpower or equipment needed to fight piracy. And he points to other complicating factors. "The fact, too, [is that] the pirates seem more organized now, and you have your crime syndicates," said the security firm employee. "That's very big. ...And also you're seeing some collusion through different small governments to actually entities of larger governments. You're seeing some collusion there." All this has made the pirates bolder, Mr. Keller says, because they know they may be set free if they are caught. He points to the case of the Petrol Ranger, a ship carrying fuel oil that was attacked by pirates about four years ago. The Chinese army helped recover the ship and arrest the pirates, but Mr. Keller says a few months later local Chinese police set the pirates free. The maritime bureau says several pirate gangs are currently under arrest in China, Indonesia and India. And the bureau's deputy director, Jayant Abhyankar says more countries are now working together to try to stop piracy. "In the past, countries simply refused to accept such a thing," he said. "Now, they have realized it is a problem, it has to be tackled, and there is certainly initiatives from national governments as well as regional organizations. So that is something which is quite positive." The maritime bureau says the area most prone to pirate attacks is the Straits of Malacca, separating Malaysia from Indonesia's island of Sumatra, a major shipping route linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Other trouble spots include waters off Bangladesh, Somalia and Ecuador. Joint patrols around Indonesia have helped avert some attacks, Mr. Keller says, but Indonesia's strict rules against weapons aboard vessels make anti-piracy efforts more difficult. As a result, Mr. Keller says, many security companies have sprung up to help shipping companies and luxury yacht owners protect themselves with armed guards or satellite tracking systems. "When you integrate security forces into a crew of a luxury yacht, and something seems suspicious, the security forces, of course, being alert, knowing the signs, the typical signs of attack, of ambush...being aware of such things and the crew of the vessel working together with a security force, they can foil many of the attacks," he said. "If it's in daylight time, you bring your people up to the deck and they stand there and they watch. They take some pictures. A lot of times they don't even need to brandish a firearm. ...The bad guys are going to see that, and they're going to say, 'Well, maybe, I'm not going to take this guy, because it would be too difficult.' The energy to get the target at that point exceeds the gains from getting it." However, Captain Abhyankar says the International Maritime Bureau does not believe having armed security agents on board makes a vessel safer. "We don't believe arming the crew is a good idea," he said. "The crew have to be psychologically trained, trained to shoot and shoot to kill if necessary. And the situation can escalate into something quite dramatic, which could be controlled by normal preventive measures." Insurance companies also generally do not approve of weapons on board ships. Therefore, Mr. Keller says, many ship captains do not inform insurance companies about their security precautions, or if their security personnel have foiled attempted pirate attacks. He says they are afraid their insurance rates will rise. Yet Mr. Keller and Captain Abhyankar agree that new satellite tracking systems have been helpful in preventing ships from being attacked and finding those that have been stolen.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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