Has anyone had this experience? Has anyone every heard of such a thing with cruise ships?

She claimed cruise lines hush this stuff up.

Any comments?

I had my reservations, that's why I posted the note on the forum.

There are some instance with cargo ships & tankers where the pirates have been fended off with with fire hoses [2 being... In the Straits of Malacca, six pirates in a speedboat tried to board a tanker but were driven off with high-powered fire hoses. In another episode, six pirates sought to board a carrier of liquefied petroleum gas. The crew switched on floodlights and blasted away with fire hoses to repel the pirates, from here], but not a cruise ship while underway afaik.. there is this one incident I can find, off Singapore with Universe Explorer:-
"And pirates! On the Saigon River, old wooden sampans with eyes painted on their prows had motored along side to sell us bananas and post-cards, very benign. But these are pirate waters, from Singapore through the Straits of Malacca. For two nights, our crew stood vigil on deck with fire hoses ready to repel boarders. We fueled at anchor off Singapore; and sure enough, just as the fueling barge uncoupled and started off, a small boat with two scruffy types came roaring up to our ship. They were driven away with a pressure hose, to the thrill of all watching. Hooray, pirates, just what we wanted! What did they really intend? To board us and ravage us? Trade in virgins, or terrible drugs? Stow away? We'll never know. Probably they just wanted to sell us bananas and postcards. The current ship mania--rumors and manias travel fast on shipboard--is for flowered and batik shirts. They might have had better luck with those."

..but as the reviewer states, they may just have wanted to sell bananas. It used to common having small boats come alongside to sell goods in some parts of the world. Review here.

Lancet, did the lady mention which ship? Maybe a similar incident to above? But not that one as no balconies... but then we all know how well rumours can run wild

Pam

[ 06-18-2004: Message edited by: PamM ]

She said she was on a world cruise with Radisson. Probably the Seven seas, but she didnt say. I didnt ask her when, but sounded like it was recently. I really doubted her story. Since my son-in-law captains freighters and goes to that area; and has told of pirate stories involving freighters, I had to consider the possibility of some veracity to her story. When his ships are in the China sea and Indian ocean, the hands are issued firearms (maybe just the officer--I dont remember), because of the danger of piracy.

I thought of emailing radisson, but felt this forum would be a better, quicker and broader method of verification or de-bunking. I had a hard time swallowing the 'hushing it up' theory, due to the newsworthiness. So I wrote this note to the forum as a query, not as a warning. Again, I really doubted her story.

I remember the incident because it sounded to me like it had the potential to be a major event but the media basically ignored the story except for the brief mention in the newspaper.

The threat of piracy exists, but obviously it is the smaller cruise ships that are most at risk. I do think though, that the cruise lines have taken security precautions to avoid such incidents, such as not sailing a vulnerable ship (ie. small) in a high risk area.

A scenario that is more worrying to me however, is the hijacking of a midsize freighter or similar vessel and using it to ram a cruise ship in a narrow passage or while the cruise ship is at anchor. Not a real threat in Caribbean/Alaskan/European waters with port/shipping security increasing ... but in Asian/South Pacific waters? After all that is where there already has been hijackings of cargo ships, albeit with different motives than terrorism.

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Jakarta moots joint task force for straits
Navy chief says participation of non-littoral states not necessary
By DONALD URQUHART
June 18, 2004

(SINGAPORE) Indonesia has proposed a joint maritime task force along with Singaporean and Malaysian forces to patrol the Straits of Malacca against piracy and terrorism, according to the country's navy chief.

'All this time we have had good cooperation with Malaysia and Singapore. If the task force is established, automatically security in the Malacca Straits will be strengthened,' Indonesian Navy Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh was yesterday quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.com.

The surprise move signals a further softening in the stance of Malaysia and Indonesia after recent suggestions that non-littoral states be involved in safeguarding security in the Malacca Straits resulted in a severe hardening of views on the issue. Last week, however, Malaysia appeared to soften its stand when Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia shares Singapore's concern over security in the Malacca Straits and welcomed cooperation short of the deployment of foreign forces.

It is unclear precisely how the joint task force proposed by Indonesia would be structured, but observers would likely applaud any move forward from the largely ineffective environment in which the littoral states conduct 'coordinated patrols' limited to each state's territorial waters.

Admiral Sondakh said he would be meeting Malaysian officials later this month to discuss the establishment of the special task force that would operate around-the-clock. There was no mention of when discussions would take place with Singapore.

He also reiterated the view firmly held by both Malaysia and Indonesia that it was 'not necessary' for non-littoral states - including the US - to be involved in protecting the security of the economically and strategically valuable straits.

Instead, Admiral Sondakh said that what was needed from the US was 'limited' to exchanges of intelligence information, equipment and training assistance.

The commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, drew the ire of both Malaysia and Indonesia in April with suggestions that the US work with the littoral states to create a regional security initiative that could include US marines and other forces helping to patrol the strait.

Both countries rebuked the idea, citing the threat it posed to their territorial sovereignty.

The US later back-peddled, clarifying that it was proposing the creation of a regime for 'information sharing and law enforcement activities between participating nations'.

The neighbours were also critical of a suggestion by senior Singapore officials that the littoral states alone were not capable of providing adequate security in the straits and that a multilateral approach potentially involving user-countries might be more productive.

The Indonesian navy chief also said that pirates who launch armed attacks in Indonesian waters should be shot on the spot without mercy, according to the state-run Antara news agency.

'There is a legal basis for this. We are merely defending ourselves if they attack first. If they are caught alive they will only get, at the most, three months in jail. After that they go back to piracy again,' he said.

Admiral Sondakh made the comments following the presentation of special citations to navy personnel who thwarted the hijacking of a Pertamina oil tanker by Aceh rebels last week. Three of the 10 pirates were killed in the ensuing gun battle.

Shipping News

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Also prominent onboard Superstar Leo were surveilance cameras, not just here and there like on most modern ships, but everywhere, every corridoor, every stairwell, every nook and cranny including all outside areas and decks, and on the exterior of the ship looking down at the water, infact their were numerous cameras set to monitor down the side of the ship at water level, i was also curious as to why so many cameras!

Well my questions were answered by the captain when he held a technical information talk. The ship is wired with so many camera's specifically because of the threat posed by pirates in the straits of malaca and the south china sea. The entire exterior of the ship is monitored 24 hours a day so as any approaching vessel can be spotted and warned off.

Then if they approach this is where the funny hoses on the promenade deck come in, they are held like guns and are extremely high pressure, enough to knock a man off his feet. These are used to defend the ship against pirates boarding. Should they fail however and people manage to board the ship this is why every single part of the ship is wired with surveilance cameras, the pirates can be tracked wherever they go throughout the ship allowing an easier search to catch them. For this job, Superstar Leo's security staff were all ex-gurcas (not sure of spelling), and their are firearms onboard.

The captain said the threat was very real, and much consideration was given to anti-pirate measures by Star when designing Leo and Virgo. While he didnt mention any specific instances, he did answer yes to me when asked if the water canons had ever been used in hostility.

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Singapore welcomes joint patrol proposal
But Rear Admiral Teo says role for global maritime community could enhance security
By DONALD URQUHART
June 21, 2004

(SINGAPORE) Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean yesterday welcomed Indonesia's proposal for joint patrols by the two countries and Malaysia to guard against piracy and terrorism in the vital Malacca and Singapore Straits.

But Rear Admiral Teo reiterated Singapore's view that the larger international maritime community should also be involved in improving security in the waterways.

'We welcome the proposal from the Indonesian navy chief for greater maritime cooperation for the security of the Malacca and Singapore Straits, among the three littoral states,' said RAdm Teo in a statement following a Civil Defence exercise in Pasir Ris.

Last Thursday, Indonesia's navy chief Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh voiced the idea of a joint maritime task force along with Singaporean and Malaysian forces to patrol the straits. 'All this time we have had good cooperation with Malaysia and Singapore. If the task force is established, automatically security in the Malacca Straits will be strengthened,' he said.

But while giving support to the proposal, RAdm Teo cautioned that 'at the same time it's also very important to recognise that the international community - shippers, the IMO, trading nations, port users and so on, are also involved in this security issue in the Malacca and Singapore Straits'.

'Because they also have a very important role to play and I hope that they will be able to work together with the littoral states to improve security in the Malacca Straits,' he said.

The three littoral states are at odds over this particular issue with both Malaysia and Indonesia insisting that the littoral states alone are responsible for safe guarding the straits. Any outside involvement would be a potential threat to their sovereignty, they argue.

The US has expressed its interest in participating in some form of regional maritime security initiative, although the response from Indonesia and Malaysia has been generally negative. Japan has also been actively trying to forge greater regional cooperation on the issue for a number of years.

Earlier this month, the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) grouping of Australia, Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore agreed to conduct maritime anti-terrorism exercises starting in the South China Sea this September. The FPDA is unique as the only multilateral regional security arrangement with an operational dimension.

RAdm Teo said he had discussed the issue of greater cooperation among the three littoral states when Indonesia's armed forces chief General Endriarton Sutarto was here two weeks ago for the Shangri-La Dialogue.

'We discussed this matter and we agreed that we should ask our navies to move ahead with greater cooperation for maritime security,' RAdm Teo said.

During the same security dialogue, Singapore also discussed maritime security with Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak focusing on three areas of potential cooperation: more information exchange, coordinated patrols, and the linking up of the two country's operations centres. 'Again we are asking our navies and security agencies to proceed with this,' he added.

Security experts have been warning for some time that the economically and strategically valuable straits are highly vulnerable to maritime terror attacks.

The most likely scenarios involve obstructing the waterways by sinking a vessel or causing a collision in one of the narrow and shallow choke-points, or turning a vessel into a 'floating bomb' to attack terminal or port facilities.

There is also the fear that terrorists may be learning from the highly successful pirates operating predominantly out of Indonesian waters.

Shipping News

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African pirates threaten global shipping
June 21, 2004

(LAGOS) Foreign sailors working in Africa's sea-lanes face increasing danger from attacks by heavily armed pirates, experts said, calling for the continent's police and navies to work harder to stamp them out.

In anchorages, estuaries and even on the high seas, gangs are hijacking vessels, robbing, beating and kidnapping their crews and costing the industry millions of dollars in insurance, lost cargoes and ransom payments.

Captain Pottengal Mukundan, head of the International Chamber of Commerce's piracy reporting centre, said that attacks in Nigerian waters last year alone tripled in number and became more and more violent.

'Nigerian attacks rose to 39 in 2003, up from only 14, that's around a 280 per cent rise,' he said. 'In Nigeria, the specific problem is that the attacks are often quite violent.'

Most at risk are oil industry vessels working in the coastal swamps west of the port of Warri, where in April two US oilmen were gunned down by pirates; and in the waters off Lagos, where cargo ships can wait weeks to unload.

'Firms are more and more aware of the risk of piracy, because of the costs of insurance, which have risen exponentially,' Alain Flandrois, director of the French-based international security company Geos, said. 'The second reason is the safety of personnel. There are fewer and fewer crewmen prepared to go to areas thought of as hostile and companies are forced to fall back on inexperienced or unreliable sailors,' he said.

'The third reason is the huge cost of interruption in work, particularly for the oil industry in Nigeria, where any suspension of production can cost millions of dollars.'

Mr Mukundan reeled off a string of examples of attacks on shipping in Nigerian waters. In a typical raid, pirates armed with knives and AK-47 assault rifles will surround a ship in speedboats and force it to halt.

Shots will be fired, with gunmen targeting the windows of the bridge in order to force the crew to drop anchor. Once aboard, the pirates beat the crew and loot the ship. Often, they then kidnap international seamen.

In many cases - for example after an April 15, 2003, attack on a supply vessel in the Niger Delta in which 16 sailors were kidnapped - ship operators end up having to pay a huge ransom to free their crews.

Ransoms of up to five million naira (US$38,000) have been demanded, but negotiation is possible. Mr Flandrois said his firm's officers once persuaded a Nigerian gang to hand back a crew in exchange for just two outboard motors.

With ten serious incidents of piracy reported in the first three months of this year, Nigeria is becoming the continent's most dangerous destination, but other African countries still represent great dangers.

'We've issued a warning that all shipping should stay at least 50 nautical miles off Somalia, and preferably 100 miles,' said Mr Mukundan.

'If a vessel slows down - for example for engine repairs, which happens a lot - then it's almost inevitable that militiamen in boats will surround the ship. They will board it and force it into the coast to demand ransom.'

Andrew Mwangura, Kenyan Coordinator for Seafarers Assistance Programme, said that Somalia's lack of a government since 1991 made it harder to police its shoreline, but added that the rest of the east African coast had not been spared.

'Our region is absolutely notorious. The worst part is a 75 km stretch called Horohoro, from (the Tanzanian port of) Tanga to the Kenyan border with Tanzania,' he said from the Kenyan port city of Momabasa.

The Nigerian navy takes the problem of piracy seriously - on June 5 a naval patrol killed at least 17 pirates in a gun battle on the creeks near Warri - but like most African fleets has limited resources to cope with the problem.

And the profits of more than 30 years of stealing from the oil industry have helped arm gangs with heavy weapons, and the navy often finds itself outgunned, as on April 23, when three navy men died alongside the US workers.

Industry experts say African officials are often slow to respond to ships in distress.

'Red tape is the key problem. For example, if we report an incident to the Kenyan Navy, it will take two days to have an order allowing officers to swing into action, after which the crooks will have escaped,' Mr Mwangura said. - AFP

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I saw on t.v. a couple of months agoa docu. about Pirates in the South sea and Chinise sea. They are blood thirsty man they shoot and loot those freighters and don't care iff it is a coaster ore a super tanker. They hit whene the ships are loaded with cargo and lay low in the water. There is almost nothing captains cane do about this type off crime. I saw a CMB container freighter (Company Maritieme Belgique) who's captain ordered watchout throughout his vessel on every point there was a crewmember. There where even some with guns and those waterhoses. He said that he saw ships beiing attackt and much shooting around. He always whene possible speed up his ship and sail as quickle to safer waters.

In that docu they showed a cruise liner and say that there was never a real attack because those vessels are indead to lite up to big and to much people abaord, and overall verry fast.

That said its no wondering that pirates are back because off the poornis off the peoples living around thos seas, it was just waiting on the return off the Asian / African blackbeard. Maybe its good to do something on ther living conditions so pirasy would be not needed.

That said there will always be pirats thats a thing that will not go.

[ 06-21-2004: Message edited by: Maasdam ]

"Piracy.
Though Hollywood-style piracy--based loosely on the swashbucklers of the 18th century--no longer exists, common thugs still roam the high seas. Most pirates operate in three areas, according to Newhoff: the Far East, the east coast of South America near Brazil, and the west coast of Africa. "Luckily, these are not major cruise ship operating areas," says Newhoff. "We don't find pirates in the major areas [where] we do business."

Also, pirates are more likely to attack a commercial boat with a small crew, rather than a cruise ship. They seek supplies, money, and valuable cargo, with the least amount of resistance. "Cruise ships are well-lit, fast, and hard to board," says Newhoff, making them a harder target.

"But even though we present the wrong environment for pirates," says Newhoff, "we still prepare for them--especially on the few cruise routes that traverse high-risk areas."

At night, for example, security patrols are increased and crew members place fire hoses on the deck to repel anyone using grappling hooks. Royal Caribbean also works closely with the Piracy Center in Kuala Lumpur. The center serves as a clearinghouse for all marine vessels to report suspected piracy. If a suspicious activity is noted, the ship's captain places a report to the Piracy Center on the main frequency so that the potential thieves can hear the report. After receiving a report, the center sends immediate warning notices to all ships in the affected area and to coast guards and law enforcement agencies worldwide."

[Captain Howard Newhoff, then security manager for Royal Caribbean International]

I also recall reading a review of QE2's World Cruise in 2003, where the reviewer commented on the extra lookouts around the decks whilst sailing through the South China Seas... found it:-
"From Darwin on - watches posted fore and aft for pirates. Day and night.
Many more on Security duty in white uniforms.
"

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US mends fences with Malaysia over Straits
KL assures Admiral Fargo of help to fight terrorism, but rejects joint patrol
June 22, 2004

(PUTRAJAYA) Malaysia and the United States mended fences yesterday after an angry dispute over protecting international shipping against terrorist attacks in the vital Malacca Straits. The visiting commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, ironed out the differences between the two countries in hour-long talks with Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Razak.

Malaysia reacted strongly to recent reports that Washington was considering deploying marines in the straits to counter terrorist threats in the narrow waterway, which carries a third of world trade, saying this would infringe on its sovereignty. 'Admiral Fargo wanted to clarify the misreport in the newspapers,' Mr Najib, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, told reporters.

Adm Fargo assured him that such intervention 'has never been the intention of the US' and that Washington respected Malaysia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Mr Najib said. Adm Fargo's visit to Malaysia was the second attempt by a top US official in less than a month to limit the fallout from the report, following Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's comments on the issue during a trip to Singapore.

Mr Rumsfeld also said Adm Fargo had originally been 'misreported' when he was said to have told a congressional committee in April that the US was considering putting marines on high-speed vessels in the piracy-prone straits to protect ships against terrorists. Malaysia angrily dismissed the idea, saying US forces in the area would attract terrorism rather than repel attacks. Mr Najib made it clear yesterday, however, that Malaysia was prepared to cooperate in other ways with the US over concerns that terrorists could close the straits and cripple world trade or use a fuel tanker as a floating bomb in a maritime version of the airborne Sept 11 attacks.

He said Kuala Lumpur was ready to agree to Adm Fargo's request for expanded cooperation in the exchange of intelligence and in efforts to increase Malaysia's capacity to fight terrorism, suggesting that this could involve joint exercises.

'There will not be any joint patrols but in the area of capacity building we could have some form of bilateral exercise which will increase our capacity to deal with problems of maritime security,' he said. 'We have to ensure the threat of piracy and even the possibility of international terrorism is met in a lethal manner.'

Adm Fargo, who met Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi earlier and was to hold talks with Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, had 'expressed his pleasure with the level of commitment Malaysia has shown to fight terrorism,' Mr Najib said. However, he also ruled out joint patrols with Indonesia and Singapore, the other two states with coastlines on the straits. 'We cannot pursue joint patrols, only coordinated patrols,' Mr Najib said in answer to a question.

His response contrasts to Singapore's welcome on Sunday for the joint patrols plan first put forward by Indonesia. Singapore's Defence Minister Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean said the idea was a positive development, while suggesting that 'the international community' also had a role to play in protecting shipping in the straits. Adm Fargo is due to visit Singapore and Thailand after leaving Malaysia tomorrow. - AFP

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US pledges intelligence, training to boost Straits security
Washington won't send troops against wishes of littoral states: Adm Fargo
June 24, 2004

(KUALA LUMPUR) The United States will offer intelligence and training - but no troops - to help ward off terror or pirate attacks in the vital Malacca Straits shipping lanes, the US Pacific commander said yesterday.

Admiral Thomas Fargo, Commander-in-Chief of US Forces in the Pacific, said that the US would not do anything to disrespect neighbouring countries' territorial sovereignty.

Washington has been trying to defuse tensions with Malaysia and Indonesia, which border the straits, after recent reports said it was thinking of sending troops to help patrol the waterway. Both countries said the presence of US troops would threaten their territorial rights.

Officials fear terrorists could hijack one of the 50,000 commercial ships that travel the straits each year and use it as a 'floating weapon'.

However, Adm Fargo added that US intelligence services have found no evidence that heavily armed pirates attacking fishing vessels and other traffic in the vital sea lane had ties with terror networks in South-east Asia such as Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

'I don't have any direct linkages between the pirates and the JI but we do know that terrorists have used the maritime opportunities to advantage,' he said, referring to attacks on naval and commercial vessels in the Middle East.

Adm Fargo was speaking at a media conference during a visit to Kuala Lumpur.

He also stressed that any US assistance would only come after talks with the relevant countries.

'We're going to cooperate and collaborate and consult with the nations of this region, as they desire,' he said. 'But fundamentally, we expect each nation to take action within their sovereign space to deal with these problems.'

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore share territory in the 890-km Malacca Straits, a narrow bottleneck between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean that carries one-third of the world's trade. Adm Fargo met Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Defence Minister Najib Razak and other top officials in Malaysia.

Mr Najib said afterwards that Malaysia would cooperate with Washington to boost counter-terrorism measures in the straits, as long as such measures do not raise territorial issues.

The US admiral said South-east Asian countries had recently showed signs of increased anti-terrorism cooperation.

He noted Malaysia's plans to consolidate police and military patrols in the straits, and Indonesia's convictions of Islamic militants blamed for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.

Countries must fight the terrorism threat together, he said. 'No nation can provide for their own security by themselves anymore,' he said.

'That's just the way it is. It requires close cooperation with their friends and neighbours to ensure the security of any nation.'

Adm Fargo is scheduled to visit Singapore and Thailand this week for talks with officials. - AP

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Tripartite task force to boost Straits security
Jakarta, KL, S'pore forces to coordinate patrols in the Malacca Straits
June 30, 2004

(JAKARTA) Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore will next month launch a task force to patrol the Straits of Malacca and boost security in one of the world's most important shipping lanes, navy chiefs said yesterday.

A meeting of Indonesian and Malaysian naval chiefs resulted in agreement on a task force composed of forces from each country operating under their national commands.

That sidestepped the issue of sovereignty that has slowed cooperation on Straits security.

'We will be developing a coordinated patrol from only four times a year to a round-the-year patrol under one task force especially to handle the Malacca straits,' Indonesian navy chief Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh told reporters.

He did not rule out in future a joint force for the patrols being based in Indonesia's North Sumatra Belawan port, Singapore and Lumut port in Malaysia. 'I said to my Malaysian counterpart that maybe some day we will do this joint patrol, but not for now because every country has its own political policy.'

Each country would supply up to seven ships with 100 crew, he said.

Singapore's Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said yesterday that the three navies would be meeting soon to discuss this proposal in 'greater detail'.

'We have been discussing how we can move forward,' a Mindef spokesman told BT last night. 'We welcome the Indonesian Navy chief's latest proposal for greater maritime security cooperation in the Malacca Straits among the three littoral states.

'Trilateral co-ordinated patrols would be a positive step forward in enhancing security in the Straits.'

Malaysian navy chief Anwar Mohammad Nor stressed that patrolling the Straits was the responsibility of countries in the region - a reference to US suggestions that its forces could play a role.

'We don't want outside forces having a role in the Straits of Malacca,' Mr Anwar told the news conference. Although Malaysia has agreed to work with the US to boost security through intelligence sharing, training and exercises, it has ruled out joint patrols.

Indonesia has also ruled out any role for outside forces, despite what the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) stressed were its limitations.

'Indonesia has got a very large resource problem and what we would like to see is Indonesian authorities giving a greater priority to piracy by allocating the resources to ensure law enforcement agencies can deal with it,' IMB director P Mukundan told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Navies and coast guards from the Straits' two coastal states and Singapore might consider posting officers on boats of the other two to allow rapid communication if there is a need for hot pursuit across maritime boundaries, he said.

He also said Malaysia had taken the right steps in preventing its remote islands from becoming safe havens for pirates. This could be seen by reports received by the IMB that almost no pirate attacks were reported in the South China Sea, once notorious for outlawed armed groups.

'We, at IMB, receive good cooperation from the Malaysian law enforcement agencies which have shown commitment in ensuring that their waters remain safe to all vessels,' he told Bernama after presenting a paper at the IMB's annual meeting on Piracy and Maritime Security here.

Captain Mukundan also said that the Indian Ocean was once known for its vulnerability to pirate attacks but efforts by the Indian and Bangladeshi governments in setting up their Coast Guard had effectively stopped pirates and other smuggling syndicates.

'We acknowledge that countries like Indonesia have limited resources which hamper their efforts in patrolling thousands of islands or carrying out joint operations with neighbouring countries,' he said, adding that Malaysia and Singapore could work out a plan to assist their counterparts in providing logistics support and improving their intelligence-sharing efforts. - Reuters, Bernama

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Philippines navy stops pirates disguised as customs officials
Attacks up 20% at 445 last year, second-highest in over a decade
July 1, 2004

(KUALA LUMPUR) Armed pirates disguised as customs officials were prevented by the Philippines Navy from attacking a ship in the Sulu Sea on Wednesday last week, the International Maritime Bureau said in its weekly report.

Three robbers wearing uniforms approached the vessel in a fishing boat and claimed to be from customs and the coast guard, the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre said on its website.

'One person was armed with a military weapon and he hid below deck after seeing three armed Philippines navy personnel,' said the IMB, part of the International Chamber of Commerce's Commercial Crime Services unit. The robbers fled after two hours. The attack was one of four by pirates worldwide during the week ending June 28, down from nine the week before, according to the IMB.

Pirate attacks rose 20 per cent last year to 445, the second-highest in more than a decade. The names and sizes of the ships were not reported.

Two of last week's attacks happened off Africa. In one, armed robbers boarded a car carrier, off the West African state, Guinea, the IMB said. They threatened a crew member with knives at the port of Conakry, before fleeing after other sailors came to the rescue.

Three days before, pirates in a fishing boat opened fire on a yacht that had anchored off Somalia. The attackers approached the vessel at Raas Xaafuun, in the north-east, by waving their hands in a friendly manner and 'suddenly they raised their firearms and shot at the yacht, causing damage', the IMB said.

The yacht's crew retaliated by opening fire and the robbers retreated. The incident was the third foiled attack during the week, the centre said.

The same day an unidentified boat fired gunshots at a fishing vessel in the Strait of Malacca. The crew was not injured in the attack.

The IMB warned shippers to be aware of pirates operating in the northern Strait of Malacca, around the Aceh province, where six violent attacks occurred in the past three weeks.

It also cautioned shippers of the dangers of sailing in waters off the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh, where thieves often steal zinc parts welded to ships. - Bloomberg

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Nine missing as pirates throw crew overboard
By DONALD URQUHART
July 16, 2004

(SINGAPORE) Nine Indonesian seafarers are missing after pirates threw them overboard after boarding and hijacking their tug in Indonesia's Bangka Strait on Sunday. The mid-day attack occurred as the Global Semesta Satu was underway in the Bangka Strait off the southeastern tip of Sumatra near the piracy-prone Gasper Strait which is used by ships heading for Jakarta and Australia.

According to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, an unspecified number of pirates boarded the vessel and threw the 10 crew members overboard. While a passing tug rescued one crew member, the fate of the remaining nine is unknown.

In another attack in Indonesian waters, seven unlit speedboats with a line tied between them attempted to stop an oil tanker underway in the Celebes Sea. The crew raised the alarm, switched on deck lights and activated fire hoses. The speed boats followed the tanker for about an hour before fleeing.

Shipping News

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Even Indonesian nationals are not immune from attack. I guess the pirates will ditch the tug after having stripped it of its most precious parts, fittings, etc.

I hope the fire hoses drown those criminals.

...on a sour note.

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Nine missing as pirates throw crew overboard
By DONALD URQUHART
July 16, 2004

(SINGAPORE) Nine Indonesian seafarers are missing after pirates threw them overboard after boarding and hijacking their tug in Indonesia's Bangka Strait on Sunday. The mid-day attack occurred as the Global Semesta Satu was underway in the Bangka Strait off the southeastern tip of Sumatra near the piracy-prone Gasper Strait which is used by ships heading for Jakarta and Australia.

According to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, an unspecified number of pirates boarded the vessel and threw the 10 crew members overboard. While a passing tug rescued one crew member, the fate of the remaining nine is unknown.

In another attack in Indonesian waters, seven unlit speedboats with a line tied between them attempted to stop an oil tanker underway in the Celebes Sea. The crew raised the alarm, switched on deck lights and activated fire hoses. The speed boats followed the tanker for about an hour before fleeing.

Shipping News

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Even Indonesian nationals are not immune from attack. I guess the pirates will ditch the tug after having stripped it of its most precious parts, fittings, etc.

I hope the fire hoses drown those criminals.

...on a sour note.

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Originally posted by SydneyBoy:

The captain said the threat was very real, and much consideration was given to anti-pirate measures by Star when designing Leo and Virgo. While he didnt mention any specific instances, he did answer yes to me when asked if the water canons had ever been used in hostility.

So given the seriousnous that Star gives to the issue, it would not surprise me at all if a cruise ship such as Leo or RSS Voyager had needed to defend itself with water canons before, while in that high risk area. And as for the media, if it happened in the middle of the night, not many passengers would even know about it, and im sure the crew wouldnt have made a big deal about it, therefor, no one would give it much credibility, it may just pass around the cruise as a whisper.

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Originally posted by CruiseBug:
I was on a cruise in Mexico a few years ago, when our cruiseship was seized in port because of a lack of paying the port fees over a period of several months. Late at night the lines were cut and we sped off, but the authorities with guns tried to catch up and board the ship from small partol boats, but were unable to climb aboard. Don't know what happened after that. Our next port was San Diego. I never heard of it again. I wonder what ever happened?

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