Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Southeast Asia: The Way Forward

Abstract

has been a dramatic increase in the number of reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in waters in Southeast Asia, especially in the Malacca Strait and in Indonesian waters. Very few of the incidents in Southeast Asia are "piracy" as defined in international law because they took place in waters under the sovereignty of a coastal state. Nevertheless, many of the incidents posed serious threats to the safety of international maritime navigation. Some were offences under the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Acts Against the Safety of International Maritime Navigation. Some were also major criminal hijacks involving international organized crime. There has been considerable action at both the global and regional levels to attempt to deal with this threat to the safety of international navigation. This article analyzes the reported incidents and the attempts by the international community to deal with the problem. The article concludes with various recommendations on steps that should be taken by the international community and States in Southeast Asia to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships.

On the success rates of maritime piracy attacks

“…Moreover, there are virtually no incentives in reporting attacks as long as the financial losses are not severe (Bangert Struwe 2009;Davis 2009;Møller 2009;Rosenberg and Chung 2008;Rosenberg 2009;Matison 2009). In addition, coastal authorities may be reluctant to report incidents as it may reflect negatively on their image (Beckman 2002). Notably, the increase on the reported annual figures can be explained by the realisation that effective ways to combat piracy can be explored by analysing such information, as commented by Mak (2007).…”

“…The challenges in annual and monthly reporting, communication between the reporting organisations and piracy definitions are highlighted in Bruyneel (2003) and Scheffler (2010) respectively. In particular, the weaknesses of the existing piracy definitions are mentioned by any researcher involved in analysing piracy (Mejia Jr et al 2008Beckman 2002;Mo 2002;Talley and Rule 2008;Dillon 2005;Jesus 2003;Hong and Ng 2010;Collins and Hassan 2009).…”

“…Additionally, the growth rates of regional economies and increasing trade flows in value and quantity among them (for instance Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia), rising energy demand and energy imports and the automation of cargo handling in ports, brought more potential targets for criminal and illegal activities, contributing to the continuation of piracy (Mo 2002;Rahman 2007;Rosenberg 2009;Beckman 2002;Mak 2007). Though, the above issues are not to be dealt with in this paper, as the present study is aimed at investigating the piracy trends and analysing the IMO reports on piracy and armed robbery against ships from the period 2000 until 2009, based on a comprehensive database of 3,529 records.…”

Modern Piracy and International Law: Definitional Issues with the Law of the Sea

“…Keyuan (2000) echoes this importance, claiming that overlapping claims and boundary delimitation issues impede cooperation in the South China Sea. Bilateral patrols and information sharing agreements between pairs of states are another effective way to combat piracy (Beckman 2002). Bateman (2003) and He (2009) suggest that states in Southeast Asia cooperate through their coast guards, claiming this will avoid inflaming the sensitivity towards sovereignty faced in the region.…”

Les détroits de Malacca et de Singapour

“…9). Quatre incidents n'ont apparemment pas pu être catégorisés 20 . Beckman a ensuite procédé à une analyse détaillée des 36 abordages dans les détroits en 2000 sur le plan des armes utilisées, du traitement infligé à l'équipage, de la valeur des biens volés et du niveau de menace à la sécurité de la navigation maritime (tab.…”