- LONDON (Reuters) - Violent
piracy on the high seas has soared and more ships are being hijacked to
kidnap the crew for ransom, an ocean crime watchdog said Wednesday.
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- The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said the number
of reported ship attacks jumped to 445 in 2003, 20 percent higher than
the previous year and the second highest level since it began compiling
statistics in 1991.
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- The number of seafarers killed also climbed to 21, with
another 71 crew or passengers listed as missing, while 88 were injured.
This compared to 10 killed and 38 injured the previous year. The number
of hostages taken also nearly doubled to 359 in 2003.
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- "The figures show an increase in the number of the
attacks and violence of the attacks. We call upon the countries with piracy
problems to give greater priority to policing their waters," said
IMB director Captain Pottengal Mukundan.
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- The IMB said the number of ships hijacked for the theft
of the vessel and its cargo had dramatically reduced, but that more vulnerable
boats such as tugs and barges were being targeted and crews were being
abducted for ransom.
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- It said kidnappings were believed to largely be the work
of militia groups in politically sensitive areas. "The motivation
of a militia attack is different to that of commercial pirates," Mukundan
told Reuters in an interview.
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- "This is a revenue source for them -- but they are
not interested in stealing the ship or its cargo. They are locally based
groups, who don't want to go to other ports and don't have the contacts
to dispose of the cargo," he said, pointing to the separatist movement
in Aceh, Indonesia, as an example.
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- Indonesian waters continue to be the most dangerous with
121 reported attacks in 2003. The Malacca Straits, between Indonesia and
Malaysia and one of the world's most strategically important shipping lanes,
saw a rise to 28 attacks in 2003. Thirty percent of the world's trade and
80 percent of Japan's crude oil is transported through the narrow waterway.
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- Some Western intelligence agencies and maritime security
experts have linked al Qaeda, or militant groups associated with it, to
Indonesian piracy. Experts say al Qaeda showed its seaborne attack capability
by bombing the Limburg oil tanker off Yemen in 2002 and U.S. warship USS
Cole in 2000.
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- "In 23 percent of the attacks, tankers were the
targets," Mukundan said. "The fact that these ships carrying
dangerous cargoes may be temporarily under the control of unauthorized
individuals remains a matter of concern.
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- "We have also seen, for the first time, ships being
attacked simultaneously by a number of small pirate boats, firing weapons
at the bridge of the vessel," he said.
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- NEED FOR PATROLS
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- Bangladesh was ranked as having the second highest number
of attacks in 2003 with 58 and Nigeria came third with 39. Attacks off
Nigeria almost tripled compared to the previous year and the IMB regards
it as the most dangerous area in Africa for piracy and armed robbery.
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- Mukundan said commercial pirates are often backed by
organized international crime gangs, that obtain false papers for a ship,
so they can change its route to a new port. The gangs are attracted to
cargoes that are easy to resell, such as fuel oil, rice or sugar, Mukundan
said.
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- Modern-day pirates often attack using sub-machine guns
and rocket-propelled grenades. The IMB said the number of attacks using
guns rose to 100 from 68 the previous year.
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- However, some countries saw a reduction in piracy. Somalia
had a 50 percent drop in reported attacks, although the IMB said the eastern
and north-eastern coast of the African country remained a high-risk area
for hijackings and kidnapping of crew for ransom.
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- Other countries with fewer attacks in the past year included
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Guyana and Thailand. Malaysian waters saw
a fall to only five attacks, with none reported in the last six months
of 2003, which the IMB said was due to vigilant patrols by the Malaysian
marine police.
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- "Some kinds of attacks and attacks in certain areas
have dramatically reduced. This proves once again that when law enforcement
agencies take these attacks seriously there will be a corresponding reduction
in attacks," Mukundan said.
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