Japanese Crew Foils Pirates Off Indonesia
By EILEEN NG
AP
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 4) - A Japanese bulk carrier on Tuesday
foiled a pirate attack in the Strait of Malacca off Indonesia's coast,
days after two U.N.-chartered vessels were raided by pirates in the
same area, a maritime watchdog said.


The attacks raised concern about a resurgence of piracy in the strait,
one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and a key link between Asia
and Europe. The waterway had become largely peaceful last year
following increased patrols by Indonesia's navy.


"We are extremely concerned with this three latest attacks in the same
area," said Noel Choong of the London-based International Maritime
Bureau. "We have informed the Indonesian authorities, and we hope they
will take action to contain the problem" said Choong, the head of the
IMB's piracy center in Kuala Lumpur.


In the latest attack, pirates traveling on a blue-hulled, unlit
speedboat off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province followed the large
Japanese ship, with a gross tonnage of 26,989 tons, and attempted to
board it from the back, Choong said.


But an alert duty officer raised an alarm. The crew turned on
floodlights and sprayed water from fire hoses, preventing the pirates
from boarding, Choong said.


"They stopped the attack by raising the alarm," he said, adding that
the pirates, suspected to be armed with guns, chased the ship for five
minutes before giving up.


On Sunday night, pirates successfully boarded two U.N. chartered ships
carrying construction material for the reconstruction of the
tsunami-hit Aceh province.


Both ships, flying Indonesian flags, had sailed from Belawan in Sumatra
and were heading for Aceh when they were attacked, Choong said.


He said no injuries were reported among the all-Indonesian crew aboard
the two vessels, hired by the U.N. World Food Program.


The Strait has typically been one of the most pirate-infested sea lanes
in the world, but attacks fell to an all-time low last year after
increased naval patrolling by Indonesia and its neighbors.


"At the moment we don't know if these are isolated cases or the start
of attacks again in the Malacca straits," Choong said. "We are still
monitoring. But we urge ships to keep a strict piracy watch."


He said the first ship, which was heading to Lhokseumawe in Aceh was
attacked at 9.45 p.m local time and the other ship, going to Calang, at
around midnight.


The pirates stole and damaged some of the equipment on board the first
ship and robbed the crew of cash and personal belongings on the other,
Choong said.


Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia officially began coordinated patrols
in the 550-mile Malacca Strait in July 2004 after prodding from
Washington, which said terrorists could link up with pirates already
established in the narrow waterway to blow up an oil tanker or use it
as a floating bomb.


The International Maritime Bureau had praised the increased security in
the Strait for causing a dramatic drop in piracy incidents last year
and this year.


According to IMB, there were no pirate attacks in the Strait of Malacca
in the first three months of 2006, but Sunday's attack raised to five
the number of piracy incidents reported since April.


Each year, more than 50,000 ships, carrying half the world's oil and a
third of its commerce, use the route bordered by peninsular Malaysia
and Singapore on one side and the Indonesian island of Sumatra on the
other.