Textbook of Maritime Medicine

In this paragraph we will make reference to the two most world prone regions to suffer pirate attacks on the last twenty years, i.e. the SE Asia from the 90´s decade till 2005 and Somalia-Horn of Africa from the middle of the present decade to nowadays.

16.4.1   The SE Asiatic region

The IMB statistics show that after 1991 and until 2005, the number of acts of piracy increased in an alarming way. The factors that cause them depend on the region where they are produced.

Thus, in SE Asia the volume of maritime traffic has increased significantly at the same time as there have been riots in some of the countries of this area and a great economic recession at a general level. The Malacca Straits sees two thirds of all the oil produced that is moved by sea, passing through its narrow waterways. Security experts believe that should terrorists wish to make a significant impact on the global economy, then it is here that they are most likely to attack. The Straits could be closed or severely hampered by a large merchant vessel sunk in its narrow sea-lanes. This would mean that vessels would have to move to the south of Indonesia, increasing sailing times by as much as three days[1]. Insurers would increase their costs, shippers would increase their costs, and the South East Asian Markets could conceivably crash. The Western markets could also suffer, and the impact would be felt throughout the world. It is because of this that Western governments should be increasingly concerned about the security of this narrow stretch of water. Moreover, there are essentially five direct factors which have played a relevant role in the resurgence of piracy:

• A decrease on the naval presence in SE after the end of the named Cold War, especially since the eighties;
• A lack of capacity of the coastal countries to obey the laws;
• Undeveloped cooperation systems in the region; 
• Insufficient measures as far as the countries of this important area of communication are concerned; 
• Progressive decrease of the crews of ships. Without a full complement of crew it is impossible to maintain a sufficient watch in dangerous waters, making evasive measures less effective.

Apart from these five factors which have favoured the increase of piracy in the area, we have to state that the pirates have equivalently seen their manoeuvre capability and escape increased, which gives them a considerable margin of security; in this case, also of impunity. For example, if an outboard motor is set in a small boat, it may easily reach a speed of 30 knots and this way escape from the warship (lots of them, older than their usual life) that is pursuing them. With a GPS, the pirates know their position accurately at any moment even on the high seas, which lets them:

• The rendezvous with other pirate ships;
• The possibility to carry out acts at great scale, and finally;
• Draw up strategies.

Another matter which worsens the problem is that there are legal gaps at a national and international level and this gives them safe areas to act.

The navies of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have the task of patrolling the world’s busiest shipping lane, the Malacca Straits. To a lesser extent the Indian Navy has some responsibility, but this is limited to the Northern extremities of the waterway, in the vicinity of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The recent agreement between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in April 2006 to formalise the Malacca Straits coordinated patrol Network by bringing both the surface patrols and maritime air surveillance arrangements by the littoral states to ensure the security of the straits is a step in the right direction. The three governments are extremely protective of their sovereignty in the Malacca Straits and this recent agreement marks a major step patrolling the waters surrounding their countries. The IMO has developed a cooperative framework around the littoral states of the Strait of Malacca, and other Asian governments that has been in force since 2006. Known as the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia (ReCAAP), the agreement established procedures for coordinating responses to piracy and sharing best practices between law enforcement and security personnel. The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) in Singapore now serves as the principal clearing house for piracy reporting and response coordination. These steps, taken together with other regional agreements among Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to coordinate anti-piracy patrols in the Straits of Malacca and surrounding waters have been successful in reducing piracy in that region. Though, the initial focus of the agreements is on information sharing, it may be expanded later to include capacity building, sharing of expertise etc. 

[1] There is no alternative to an efficient and viable route through maritime Southeast Asia other than to traverse between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. One of the most important international shipping routes from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea (which joins the Pacific Ocean) passes through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Together, they serve as the jugular of Southeast Asia‘s maritime realm. Singapore’s harbour, as the world’s busiest transit port, sits on the straits as a key hub in the global economic lifeline. The best alternative to the Malacca and Singapore Straits are three routes that run through the Indonesian archipelago — the Strait of Makasar between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait. These routes apply especially to ships running between the Middle East (the Persian/Arabian Gulf) and East Asia.