NAVY'S 'OPS FAJAR' IN ADEN GULF COST RM14.6 MLN

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government spent RM14.6
million to finance the operations of Malaysian navy vessels under "Ops Fajar"
from Sept 4 to Dec 31 last year in the Gulf of Aden, Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said.

"The government is aware that the cost of quite high but it is relatively
very small compared to the loss that has to be borne if the country's cargo
ships were seized by pirates.

"This is because the country's trade sector which relies on imports and
exports using cargo ships is considered a strategic interest with a value of
RM92.1 billion in 2008," he said in a written reply to Hee Loy Sian, an
opposition MP in the Lower House of Parliament Thursday.

Ops Fajar was launched after MISC Berhad's MT Bunga Melati Dua vessel which
was heading for Rotterdam from Dumai in Sumatra with 39 crew was hijacked by
heavily-armed pirates off the coast of Somalia on Aug 19 last year.

Ten days later another MISC vessel, MT Bunga Melati Lima, with 36 crew
experienced a similar fate in the same waters.


Nazri said the ransom to secure the release of the MT Bunga Melati Dua and
Lima was paid by the company and did not involve government funds.

"In line with the recommendation of the International Maritime Organisation
and other international bodies, the amount of ransom paid by MISC had to be kept
confidential to avoid the risk of higher ransom demands and to the lives of the
crew of merchant ships plying risk areas in the Gulf of Aden," he said.

He said the government was also working together with shipping companies and
international organisations to identify long term measures to contain the
pirate threat in the Gulf of Aden.

"The ongoing pirate threat will surely adversely affect the future of the
country's shipping industry which largely depends on the waters.

"Any route change will increase costs and shipping time besides exposing
merchant ships to other security threats," he said.

-- BERNAMA