Private navies combat Malacca Strait pirates

Waterway now so dangerous for shipping, Lloyd's classifies major seaway as warzone

Ship captains navigating the Malacca Strait no longer have to depend on the slow response of government – or sheer luck – to safely pass through the pirate- and terrorist-infested waters since private navies have begun providing escort services for ships through the strategic seaway.

The Strait, passageway to a third of the world's crude oil, has long been treacherous, with gangs armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other modern weapons ready to board, kill crews, steal cargo and even hijack and resell ships.

As reported by WorldNetDaily, pirates stalking ships in the Strait have escalated their tactics and capabilities, raising the fear terrorists may infiltrate their ranks and use hijacked ships as platforms for attacks.

"We have been alarmed not only by the increase in the number of pirate attacks in the sea lanes of communication in this part of the world, but also in the nature of the piracy attacks," said Tony Tan, Singapore's minister for security.

"In previous years when you had a piracy attack, what it meant is that you have a sampan or a boat coming up to a cargo ship, pirates throwing up some ropes, scrambling on board, ransacking the ship for valuables, stealing money and then running away," Tan told an Asian security forum, according to a report in the Khaleej Times. "But the last piracy attack that took place in the Straits of Malacca showed a different pattern," he added. The pirates were well armed, operating sophisticated weapons and commanding high-speed boats. "They conducted the operation almost with military precision."

Tan added: "Instead of just ransacking the ship for valuables, they took command of the ship, and steered the ship for about an hour, and then eventually left with the captain in their captivity. To all of us, this is reminiscent of the pattern by which terrorists mount an attack."

It is this level of violence that has caused Lloyd's Market Association to designate the Malacca Strait a warzone like Iraq for insurance purposes – a designation that translates into higher costs of doing business.

But business problems breed business solutions – in this case, private navies that provide onboard security and naval escort services to cargo ships and tankers.

Five security companies from Britain and the U.S. have entered the private navy business in the region in the last year, hoping to tap a market that prices security at a minimum of $50,000 per ship.

Companies like Background Asia Risk Solutions, the first naval security firm to open for business in Singapore, hire U.S. and British Commonwealth ex-military and police personnel, many with experience in Iraq or Afghanistan. While forbidden by law from using heavy machine guns, the armed escorts provide onboard security and chartered patrol boats to escort client ships. Some firms even claim to be able to recapture ships or oil rigs from hijackers by rappelling security forces from helicopters.

"We are not in the business of eradicating piracy," Alex Duperouzel, managing director of Background Asia, told the Glasgow Sunday Herald. "But we are in the business of suppressing it and protecting our clients."

Background Asia typically runs six escort missions monthly at around $100,000 each. The going rate for ransoming kidnapped ship's masters in the region is $120,000.

Duperouzel said his forces have not yet had to open fire – his men merely stepping up to the side of the ship with weapons displayed has been sufficient to convince pirates to leave, often to find easier prey.

While statistics indicate 4 murders of crew members last year, the number of attacks in Indonesian waters and the Strait dropped from 77 to 56, a sign, perhaps, the private navies are suppressing piracy.

The 12-15 gangs in the area, each about 50-strong, operate out of southern Thailand and Indonesia. Some have links to the Triads in Hong Kong, organized crime syndicates with resources and networks to fence stolen cargoes. Others are associated with Islamic terrorist groups like Jemaah Islamiyah.

"We are concerned that terrorists may seize control of a tanker with a cargo of lethal materials, LNG (liquefied natural gas) perhaps, chemicals, and use it as a floating bomb against our port," Tan said. "This would cause catastrophic damage, not only to the port but also for people, because our port is located very near to a highly dense residential area. Thousands of people would be killed."

"If terrorists were to seize a tanker, a large ship, and sink it into a narrow part of the Straits it will cripple world trade," Tan said. "It would have the iconic large impact which terrorists seek."

Malaysia has rejected the use of foreign forces to patrol the area. For now, that leaves the private navies that have proven their mettle against pirates seeking booty but who have yet to be tested against terrorists intent on destruction, whatever the cost.

http://www.defenceindia.com/26-jul-2k4/news46.html

Strait security will enhance India's regional power status
New Delhi, Aug 02, 2004 (IANS)

A collective request to India by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia to provide maritime security to the pirate-infested Malacca Strait - through which a quarter of the world trade passes - is seen as a recognition of the country's growing stature as a regional power and its strategic strength.

It is also a reflection of the perception in the Southeast Asian region of India as a "friendly nation," because Malaysia and Indonesia had, just days before, rejected a US offer for joint patrolling of the Malacca Strait.

New Delhi has positively responded to the request, with External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, who was in Jakarta to attend the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in early July, saying it was in India's interest to ensure that the Strait remained a crime-free sea-lane.

The request by the three countries followed a spate of violent kidnappings in the Malacca Strait in June that prompted ship captains to write to maritime authorities expressing safety concerns while sailing through the busy strait.

Following this, the Indonesian and Malaysian navies had launched coordinated patrolling of the strait, a vital but dangerous waterway through which more than a quarter of world trade passes.

More than 50,000 commercial vessels sail the 805-km channel between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula to Singapore each year.

The Britain-based International Maritime Bureau's Asian office recorded 445 pirate attacks last year, the second highest since it began compiling data in 1992. Of those about one-third took place in Indonesian waters, including in the Malacca Strait.

C. Uday Bhaskar, deputy director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, described the request to India as a "positive development."

"It is a positive development because it acknowledges India's ability to provide security to the sea lane. It acknowledges India's overall strategic capability," Uday Bhaskar told IANS.

Said a senior Indian Navy official commenting on the request by the three countries: "Our role is being perceived as that of a responsible nation which can create a balance in the region. Also, everyone realises that India has no ambitions of hegemony."

He said it was also important for India to keep some amount of peace and tranquility in the area. "If we don't do it other powers will come in."

According to IMB, eight serious incidents of kidnapping of senior crewmembers for ransom had been reported from the Malacca Strait during a 12-day period from June 4.

In one such incident, the captain and chief engineer were taken hostage, while 14 crewmen escaped and reached safety in a fishing boat.

The crew said the pirates demanded "several hundred million" Indonesian rupiah and, when refused, riddled the ship with automatic gunfire, sinking it.

The US has raised questions about the ability of the two countries to ensure security in the strait - only 1.5 km wide at some places and 25 metres deep.

But the US would have no such complaint about an Indian role because it was the Indian Navy, which provided vital escort to US warships in the Strait during the military action in Afghanistan - Operation Enduring Freedom - following the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US.

But these are not the only instances where the Indian Navy's assistance had been sought to provide security.

During the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Mozambique last year, Maputo requested India to provide security for the meeting and New Delhi sent a destroyer to guard the coast.

In fact, at one point last year, six Indian naval vessels, including the one deployed off the Mozambique coast, were making port calls in various part of the world, enhancing the navy's international visibility.

"Ït was being talked about in diplomatic circles," said a senior official.

Analysts said China would have been another country that could have been approached for patrolling the Malacca Strait, but given the apprehensions about Beijing's big power ambition it would have created considerable disquiet in the region.

"India is definitely more acceptable to shoulder such responsibility because of its acceptability and because of certain sensitivity in the region about the US and China," IDSA's Uday Bhaskar said.

The US too would be very wary of any Chinese role in the region. Apart from that, the Indian Navy is technologically superior to the Chinese Navy though the latter has more vessels.

India is also the only navy east of the Suez with an aircraft carrier, the analysts noted.

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