Pirates attack a barge in the Malacca Straits

Pirates with firearms have attacked a barge in the Malacca Straits and taken the captain and chief engineer hostage. The attack took place at 1915 local time yesterday as the barge was carrying carrying steel billets from Malaysia's northern state of Penang to Belawan in Indonesia. Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, described the incident to Fairplay as “worrisome”. "We are concerned that pirates have come back to kidnap and hope that Indonesian authorities will contain the problem", he said. Fairplay understands that the pirates have yet to contact the barge owners and make their ransom demands. This tactic, argued Choong, is a ploy by the pirates to keep authorities guessing as to their whereabouts and to prevent security forces taking back the commandeered vessel. The latest kidnapping, according to Choong, is the first such incident in the Malacca Straits since a lull began in July 2005. The Straits carry one-third of the world's shipping and half the world's oil supply. While there is not yet any definite answer as to why the pirates have returned, Choong ascribes it to a possible reduction in patrols by Indonesian maritime craft.