SEVEN CASES OF SHIP PIRACY IN ASIA IN FEBRUARY

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, March 24 (Bernama) -– Seven cases of piracy and armed robbery involving ships, including an attempted case, were reported in Asia last month.

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery
against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre here said the cases showed an
increase in the number of incidents reported, as compared to the
same month last year, 2008 and 2007.

In its monthly report released today, the centre said that of the six actual
incidents, only one was classified as a very significant case as it involved the
kidnapping, in Malaysia's waters, of a ship engineer who was later rescued in
the Philippines.

The centre said, of the seven cases, a case each was reported in the Bay of
Bengal and Vietnam, two cases each in Malaysia and India and one attempted case
in Indonesia.

It said the vessels involved in the incidents were a bulk carrier, container
ship, LPG tanker, oil tanker, product tanker and two tug-boats, with most ships
anchored when robbed.

The centre also said, in most of the incidents, the crew were only
threatened and not harmed by the robbers who were mainly armed with machetes and
unidentified weapons.

-- BERNAMA