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Resurgence of piracy highlights terror risk (Malacca Straits)
MSNBC ^ | July 22, 2005 | Kari Huus

Posted on 07/22/2005 4:11:15 PM PDT by QQQQQ

When 35 pirates carrying machine guns and rocket launchers boarded a tanker laden with methane in the Malacca Strait in March, it sent a shudder through the crew, and a ripple of fear from Tokyo to Washington.

It also served as a reminder of the risks to world trade, and of the potential for terrorism in the region.

The attack on the tanker turned out to be routine highway robbery in the strait, whose waters are shared by Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

But in the nightmare scenario, terrorists using the methods of modern-day pirates seize a gas tanker and use it as floating bomb, which experts say could explode with the force of a small nuclear weapon. The damage from such an attack could go well beyond the immediate bloodshed and environmental damage, hobbling U.S. trade with Asia and cutting off essential energy supplies shipped through the narrow channel to China, South Korea and Japan.

"The threat is real and urgent," Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told a regional security conference in June. "We know that terrorists have been studying maritime targets across the region."

Each year, 60,000 ships ply the Malacca Strait, carrying about half of the world's oil and one-third of its trade. That includes nearly all of U.S. imports from China and 80 percent of the oil used by economic powers Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: malacca; malaccastrait; malaccastraits; maritime; piracy; terrorism

1 posted on 07/22/2005 4:11:16 PM PDT by QQQQQ
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To: QQQQQ

Why would a ship going from China to the US go through the Malacca Straits?


2 posted on 07/22/2005 4:12:59 PM PDT by thoughtomator (How many liberties shall we give up to maintain the pretense that we are not at war with Islam?)
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To: QQQQQ

How about having a few of these ships carry hidden Navy or Marine detachments with heavy weapons? Ought to put a real dent in the popularity of piracy.


3 posted on 07/22/2005 4:24:05 PM PDT by Restorer (Liberalism: the auto-immune disease of societies.)
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To: thoughtomator
?......Why would a... 'Methane'... ship going from China to the US go through the Malacca Straits?

Answer:

....To...Re-supply... 'those in need'.....?

/sarcasm?

4 posted on 07/22/2005 4:27:24 PM PDT by maestro
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To: thoughtomator

It's oil and liquefied natural gas tankers going from the Gulf to the Asian markets. They all have to pass through these straits. Blocking the strait would constitute a lethal choke hold on half the world economy.


5 posted on 07/22/2005 4:30:56 PM PDT by Argus
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To: Argus

Yeah I know about that, but the article said China-to-US trade went through the Malacca Straits, and I just can't see why a ship would go that route. Even if they were heading to the east coast of the US, the Panama Canal (or even the southern passage) is a faster route than going west through the Indian Ocean.


6 posted on 07/22/2005 4:34:24 PM PDT by thoughtomator (How many liberties shall we give up to maintain the pretense that we are not at war with Islam?)
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To: Argus

Mahan Bump.


7 posted on 07/22/2005 4:41:45 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: thoughtomator; Argus
....Yeah I know about that, but the article said China-to-US trade went through the Malacca Straits, and I just can't see why a ship would go that route. Even if they were heading to the east coast of the US, the Panama Canal (or even the southern passage) is a faster route than going west through the Indian Ocean ....

Answer:

There 'called'....CONTRACTS!

:-)

8 posted on 07/22/2005 5:07:14 PM PDT by maestro
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To: thoughtomator
Why would a ship going from China to the US go through the Malacca Straits?

Headed for an East Coast destination Via the Suez canal.

Panama can't take some boats and it's pretty booked up anyway.

9 posted on 07/22/2005 5:18:47 PM PDT by Malsua
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