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Expanse paradigm shift4/17/2023 ![]() ![]() The OBP report suggests that unlike Somali piracy, which occurred almost entirely in international waters, attacks on vessels in the Southeast Asian region took place primarily within the territorial seas, archipelagic waters, and the Exclusive Economic Zones of the region’s nine different countries. There is a massive flow of shipping traffic through the Southeast Asian region – over 4,000 ships can be seen in the Malacca and Singapore Straits at any given time. By comparison, the coastline between the Horn of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa is 3,300 nm long. ![]() One reason for the higher number of incidents in Southeast Asia, says OBP, is the large geographical expanse of the region Indonesia alone spans more than 2,800 nm. OBP’s annual report says that Southeast Asia recorded the highest rate of successful attacks of the three regions OBP assessed in this year’s report, the other two regions being Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Guinea. While the kidnappings for ransom model was absent in Southeast Asia – this posed a sharp contrast to the money demanded for release of seafarers kidnapped in the waters in and around Somalia – pirates often showed a callous disregard for seafarers in Southeast Asia 64% of the attacks took place near the Malacca Strait with a 93% rate of pirates successfully boarding victim vessels. Physical abuse of seafarers was reported in 28% of the incidents. The OBP estimates that 40% of the seafarers affected by piracy were from countries within the Southeast Asian region. According to Singapore-based ReCAAP (Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia) Information-Sharing Centre (ISC) and the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre, 3654 seafarers were subjected to attacks in Southeast Asia, with 800 seafarers facing violence or the threat of violence 51% of such attacks involved the use of weapons. While this report focuses on sea piracy in the Western Indian Ocean, which is largely a reference to the incidents around Somalia and other places off the coast of Africa, it includes, for the first time, a brief section on the human cost of piracy in Southeast Asia. Oceans Beyond Piracy, a Colorado based organization which annually assesses the cost of maritime piracy, both economic and human, to the international community, released its latest report called The State of Maritime Piracy 2014, a few days before the IPL event, highlighting 2014 as a “year of improvement in the Western Indian Ocean”, with piracy attacks drastically declining because of higher surveillance, strong naval presence in the waters of the region, private armed guards on board the ships, etc.ĭeepak Shetty – Director General of Shipping, India’s Ministry of Shipping Prominent participants representing NGOs and non-NGOs, including Togo’s foreign minister Robert Dussey, highlighted at the IPI event not just the losses incurred in terms of ransom money paid and lives but also the effects on mercantile shipping and on the region’s economy. The IPI event served as a prelude to the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on Maritime Security and Development for Africa, which will be organized by the African Union in Lomé, Togo, from November 2 to 7, 2015. This paradigm shift in sea piracy also figured prominently during a recent two-panel event called Pan-African Maritime Goals for 2050 hosted by New York-based International Peace Institute (IPI). With sea piracy incidents declining off the coast of Somalia, which had become unsafe for merchant shipping at one time, one sees a paradigm shift in sea piracy which has intensified in other regions of the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Gulf of Guinea, the Western Indian Ocean and some Caribbean islands. Scourge intensifies in other regions as Somali sea piracy declines. ![]()
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