A senior naval officer on Tuesday claimed there has been a decrease in the number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Strait of Malacca following joint efforts by four countries.
Rear Adm Chaiyanun Nuntawit, deputy chief of the Naval Intelligence Department, was speaking after a meeting on maritime security in the strait at a hotel in Phuket. It was attended by members of three committees on marine and air patrols, and intelligence sharing by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Rear Adm Chaiyanun Nuntawit
The officer described the current situation in the Strait of Malacca as "stable" and claimed more incidents of armed hijackings of ships were reported in the South China Sea.
"Joint efforts by the four nations have been successful, as the pirates have recently shifted their operations from the strait to the South China Sea. The number of incidents has clearly decreased," Rear Adm Chaiyanun said without elaborating.
The rear admirals assertion stands in contrast with a report released Tuesday by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau, which said a coastal tanker is now attacked every two weeks on average in Southeast Asia.
"After a steady drop in global piracy over the last few years, attacks rose 10% in the first quarter of 2015 on the same period of 2014," the IMB said. "Southeast Asia accounts for 55% of the world's 54 piracy and armed robbery incidents since the start of 2015."
According to the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, 12 attacks comprising six robberies and six petty thefts have taken place in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore (Soms) since January this year.
However, the piracy watchdog said 2014 saw an increase in number of incidents in the Soms as a total of 48 incidents were reported that year. This number has quadrupled, compared to 2013.
Rear Adm Chaiyanun said operations against piracy would need cooperation from shipping and tanker lines in reporting the incidents.
He added that timely reporting of hijacking by the shipping industry was key to deterring maritime crime since pirates may try to use fake bombs to threaten and delay crews from alerting authorities quickly.
The general was referring to the Feb 13 incident involving armed pirates who hijacked the Thai tanker Lapin and made off with 2,000 tonnes of bunker oil and five tonnes of diesel oil in the Strait of Malacca. The perpetrators planted a fake bomb on the flying bridge near the Lapin's control room before fleeing.
The security meeting is held three times a year and hosted by different countries. It is aimed at hearing work results by each member and sharing challenges and views on improvements in securing the Malacca area to build confidence among seafarers using the route, Rear Adm Chaiyanun said.
