Resurgence of piracy highlights terror risk

Kari Huus Reporter • Profile • E-mail

When 35 pirates carrying machine guns and rocket launchers boarded a tanker laden with methane in the Malacca Strait in March, it sent a shudder through the crew, and a ripple of fear from Tokyo to Washington.

The incident marked a resurgence in attacks along one of the world’s most vulnerable and valuable shipping lanes, where things had been relatively quiet following last year's tsunami. It also served as a reminder of the risks to world trade, and of the potential for terrorism in the region.

The attack on the tanker turned out to be routine highway robbery in the strait, whose waters are shared by Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. 

But in the nightmare scenario, terrorists using the methods of modern-day pirates seize a gas tanker and use it as floating bomb, which experts say could explode with the force of a small nuclear weapon. The damage from such an attack could go well beyond the immediate bloodshed and environmental damage, hobbling U.S. trade with Asia and cutting off essential energy supplies shipped through the narrow channel to China, South Korea and Japan.

"The threat is real and urgent," Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told a regional security conference in June. "We know that terrorists have been studying maritime targets across the region."

Each year, 60,000 ships ply the Malacca Strait, carrying about half of the world's oil and one-third of its trade. That includes 80 percent of the oil used by economic powers Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

In the 600-mile long passageway, just 20 nautical miles across at its narrowest, slow-moving cargo ships are easy to spot and chase down. Many of the attacks succeed because pirates can quickly retreat into national waters where pursuers cannot follow, and hide among the myriad islands in the region. As shipping through the strait increases rapidly, security only gets harder to provide.

While the stakes are high for the United States and its trading partners, there are limits to American security efforts since the piracy is not in U.S. waters.

Many attacks not reported
In 2004, there were 37 attacks in the Malacca Straits reported to the Piracy Reporting Center of the Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau, making it one of the most dangerous stretches of water on earth, according to the organization.

The number dropped sharply after the tsunami hit the region on Dec. 26, presumably because of the large presence of foreign military vessels helping with aid. But in mid-March, after their departure, the maritime bureau said violent ship attacks were on the rise again.

And reported attacks, experts agree, are only a sampling of reality, since shipping companies are reluctant to report the incidents, which can cause costly delays or push up insurance rates.

"There are more and more attacks that go unreported," said Gal Luft, director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. "People in this industry ... admit that for them economically it doesn’t make sense."

"They don’t care about the geopolitical implications or the social cost of all this," Luft said.

As it is, the Lloyd’s and London insurance market Joint War Committee, an advisory body to insurers, reclassified the Malacca Strait as a war risk area this month — a signal to the insurance industry that regional conflict and the rising level of violence merit higher premiums for ships passing through the region.

The attacks vary. Some pirates target the contents of ship safes; others kidnap crew members for ransom, while others target high-value cargo.

One of the most recent reported incidents, technically in the Singapore Strait at the far southern end of the passage, took place on July 13, according to the International Maritime Bureau: "Six pirates armed with long knives and wearing black facemasks boarded a tanker under way via a speedboat. They took hostage two duty crewmembers and tied them up."

After destroying the ship's communication equipment, the bureau said, they took three more crew members and the captain hostage, and stole the ship's cash and other property.

More firepower
The attacks are increasingly sophisticated, employing military-style weapons and strategies.

"Because of the kinds of weapons they're carrying, they're use of flack jackets, a high degree of competency and tactical prowess ... it seems apparent that they’ve had some relatively vigorous training," says Rupert Herbert-Burns, director of intelligence and research for the Washington, D.C.-based arm of Lloyds Marine Intelligence group in London.

"We’re talking about criminals here … with more sophistication, scales of ammunition, adequate use of command and control, the use of multiple boats and the ability to seize precisely the right ship," he said.

So far, the link between these criminals and terrorism remains largely a matter of speculation and concern. Skeptics say that the United States and its allies exaggerate the threat as a way to justify asserting themselves in the region.

But there is some evidence that is cause for concern. The separatist group known by the acronym GAM, a group fighting to create an independent Islamic state in Indonesia's Aceh province, uses piracy to raise money for its long-running battle.

Of more concern is the Islamist extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which was behind the October 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali that killed more than 200 on the popular Indonesian resort island. Jemaah Islamiyah is known to operate throughout Southeast Asia, and has had at least some contact with al-Qaida.

Last August, Indonesia's intelligence chief, A.M. Hendropriyono, wrote in an opinion piece in the Jakarta Post that "senior Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists now in detention have admitted that attacks on Malacca shipping traffic have been contemplated in the recent past." He didn't provide any additional detail in the article, which argued for more cooperation in the region and help from the United States.

An attack in 2004, the details of which remain in dispute, also prompted intense focus on the potential for terrorism in Malacca. As it was reported, hijackers with assault rifles took over a chemical tanker, disabled the ship's radio, took the helm and apparently experimented with steering the vessel at various speeds, an incident that prompted comparisons with the Sept. 11 suicide bombers flight training.

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