The number of piracy incidents in Asia has fallen significantly compared with a year ago, according to the first quarterly report of the newly established ReCAAP anti-piracy Information Sharing Centre (ISC).
For the January-March period this year, a total of 14 actual and 4 attempted incidents in the Asian region were noted.
For the period Jan 1 to March 31 this year, a total of 14 actual and 4 attempted incidents in the Asian region were reported to the Singapore-based ISC, the data collection and analysis body of a 14 Asian member-state initiative to fight maritime piracy in the region. The report describes the 14 actual attacks simply as 'petty theft'.
The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) came into force in the middle of last year, and involves the 10 Asean countries plus China, South Korea, Japan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
In the same period last year, there were 32 actual and 4 attempted incidents, while in 2005 there were 37 and 5 respectively.
The report noted that the decline in pirate attacks was most evident in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The overall decline in the number of incidents - similarly reported by the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur - was also matched by a general decrease in the seriousness of the attacks.
Nearly 80 per cent of the actual attacks involved between one and three pirates 'who were mainly engaged in petty theft', according to the report which added there were no hijacks during the period.
The ISC categorises attacks according to severity - from Category 3 (less significant) to Category 1 (very significant) - with only one of the 14 attacks for the quarter falling into Category 1. That attack occurred on 16 March, some 30 nautical miles east of Pulau Bintan when pirates in two speedboats intercepted the Ai Maru crude oil tanker en route from Singapore to the Papua New Guinea port of Kereman.
The 10 camouflage-wearing pirates were armed with shot guns, rifles and daggers and upon boarding the tanker, held the crew at gun-point before being blindfolding and tying them up.
The master was punched several times but sustained no serious injuries and was ordered to sail southwest towards Merapas Island, and en route the pirates smashed the ship's communications equipment before making off with the ship's documents, crew's passports, seaman books, cash and mobile phones. The report went on to note that oil tankers appeared to have been targeted more often than other ships during the period in contrast to a year earlier when container ships experienced the most attacks and the year before that when bulk carriers were the main targets.
The establishment of the information-sharing centre marks the first time that anti-piracy cooperation among regional governments has been institutionalised in a permanent body with a full-time staff. Although key players in the regional fight against piracy, neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has ratified the agreement, although the signing of an extradition treaty between Singapore and Indonesia is expected to clear a major hurdle for Indonesia's signing on.
For the January-March period this year, a total of 14 actual and 4 attempted incidents in the Asian region were noted.
For the period Jan 1 to March 31 this year, a total of 14 actual and 4 attempted incidents in the Asian region were reported to the Singapore-based ISC, the data collection and analysis body of a 14 Asian member-state initiative to fight maritime piracy in the region. The report describes the 14 actual attacks simply as 'petty theft'.
The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) came into force in the middle of last year, and involves the 10 Asean countries plus China, South Korea, Japan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
In the same period last year, there were 32 actual and 4 attempted incidents, while in 2005 there were 37 and 5 respectively.
The report noted that the decline in pirate attacks was most evident in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The overall decline in the number of incidents - similarly reported by the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur - was also matched by a general decrease in the seriousness of the attacks.
Nearly 80 per cent of the actual attacks involved between one and three pirates 'who were mainly engaged in petty theft', according to the report which added there were no hijacks during the period.
The ISC categorises attacks according to severity - from Category 3 (less significant) to Category 1 (very significant) - with only one of the 14 attacks for the quarter falling into Category 1. That attack occurred on 16 March, some 30 nautical miles east of Pulau Bintan when pirates in two speedboats intercepted the Ai Maru crude oil tanker en route from Singapore to the Papua New Guinea port of Kereman.
The 10 camouflage-wearing pirates were armed with shot guns, rifles and daggers and upon boarding the tanker, held the crew at gun-point before being blindfolding and tying them up.
The master was punched several times but sustained no serious injuries and was ordered to sail southwest towards Merapas Island, and en route the pirates smashed the ship's communications equipment before making off with the ship's documents, crew's passports, seaman books, cash and mobile phones. The report went on to note that oil tankers appeared to have been targeted more often than other ships during the period in contrast to a year earlier when container ships experienced the most attacks and the year before that when bulk carriers were the main targets.
The establishment of the information-sharing centre marks the first time that anti-piracy cooperation among regional governments has been institutionalised in a permanent body with a full-time staff. Although key players in the regional fight against piracy, neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has ratified the agreement, although the signing of an extradition treaty between Singapore and Indonesia is expected to clear a major hurdle for Indonesia's signing on.