NINE PIRACY INCIDENTS AT SEA IN MALAYSIA IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- Nine piracy incidents at sea occurred in
Malaysia in the first quarter of 2011, including the hijacking of a tugboat and
barge off Tioman Island.

Vessels were also boarded in seven incidents by robbers armed with guns and
knives, said the director of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), Captain
Pottengal Mukundan, Thursday.

He said piracy at sea had hit an all-time high in the first three months of
this year with 142 attacks worldwide where 18 vessels were hijacked, 344 crew
members taken hostage, and six kidnapped.

Another 45 vessels were boarded and 45 more reported being fired upon, he
said in the statement.

"The sharp rise was driven by a surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia
where 97 attacks were recorded, up from 35 in the same period last year. Figures
for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past three months were higher than we
had ever recorded in the first quarter of any year," he said.


The IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre which has monitored piracy worldwide since
1991, also reported that during the same period, pirates had murdered seven
crew members and injured 34 compared with just two injuries in 2006.

Mukundan said of the 18 ships hijacked during the period, 15 were captured
off the east of Somalia, in and around the Arabian Sea and one in the Gulf of
Aden.

"In this area alone, 299 people were taken hostage and six more were
kidnapped from their vessel," he said, adding that at the last count on March
31, IMB figures showed that Somali pirates were holding captive 596 crew members
on 28 ships.

He noted that there were also a dramatic increase in violence and techniques
used by pirates in the seas off Somalia.

"The overwhelming number of vessels hijacked off Somalia took place east and
northeast of the Gulf of Aden. The positions of some of the attackers' mother
ships are known. It is vital that strong action is taken against these mother
ships to prevent further hijackings," he said.


Mukundan also said that large tankers carrying oil and other flammable
chemicals were particularly vulnerable to firearms attacks.

"Three big tankers of over 100,000 tonnes deadweight had been hijacked off
the Horn of Africa this year. Of a total of 97 vessels attacked in this region,
37 were tankers and of these, 20 had a deadweight of more that 100,000 tonnes,"
he said.

Elsewhere, he said the Indian navy captured 61 Somalia pirates on a hijacked
ship off India's west coast, while Nigeria recorded five incidents with three
attacks against vessels in Lagos.

"Crews in the area are reporting increased violence, including one incident
where all 27 crew members were injured.

"IMB's concern about an expansion of Nigeria-style piracy has been
heightened by the hijacking of a chemical tanker off neighbouring Benin, which
its captors finally directed to Lagos," he said.