| Front Page |
| Index |
|
Feature |
|
Headlines |
|
- Visiting KULMIYE Delegation Under Siege in Gabiley - Norwegian Observers Expected to Issue Comprehensive Report |
| Health |
|
International News |
|
- Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on Occasion of World Press Freedom Day |
|
Editorial & Opinions |
|
- A Decision by the Supreme Court Won’t be Enough |
|
Peace Talks |
Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - Acts of piracy on the high seas jumped sharply in the first quarter of 2003 with troubled Indonesian waters attracting the most attacks, an ocean crime watchdog said on Thursday.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), already concerned at the alarming rise in global ship piracy, said attacks rose 18 percent to 103 over the first three months of this year from 87 recorded in the same period last year.
In 2002 attacks worldwide rose steeply to 370 from 335 in 2001, IMB figures show.
It says attacks are increasingly violent, with militia using a range of high-tech weaponry including rocket-propelled grenades and sub-machine guns.
It said Indonesia continued to be a blackspot with 28 attacks - the largest number for any country recorded.
In April Indonesian authorities reported six attacks within a week before increased patrols drove the assailants away.
The IMB said the greatest concentration of attacks happened around the Gelasa straits and the Anambas Islands.
Nevertheless it praised the Indonesian Navy's response to the problem that has been supplemented by detailed intelligence passed on by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre.
"It remains to be seen whether this will be a sustained trend," said director of the IMB Capt. Pottengal Mukundan.
The IMB also praised countries like India and China for handing out tough sentences to deter future attacks. Both countries have sentenced convicted pirates to between seven and 14 years' hard labour.
The waters off Somalia and Nigeria were also named as worrying blackspots. The IMB has classed Somali waters as the "most dangerous" in the world for some years and reiterated that ship would almost certainly be attacked if they strayed to close to the coastline.
Nigeria saw nine incidents in the first quarter, an increase from six in 2002. The IMB said the attacks were particularly brutal with crew seized and terrorised.
The IMB continues to assert that the multi-billion dollar international shipping industry is moving too slowly to stem the rising tide of attacks and berates governments for ignoring the problem.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives