3RD LD: Pirates attack Japanese-owned ship in Malacca Strait

Asian Political News, April 4, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDS DETAIL, AMOUNT OF MONEY TAKEN, REPORT ON MEASURES TO PROTECT SHIPS IN MALACCA STRAIT)

Pirates attacked a Japanese-owned bulk carrier early Friday morning in the Malacca Strait, the second Japanese-owned ship targeted in less than a month, the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center said Friday.

Noel Choong, the center's chief, told Kyodo News three armed pirates boarded the Panamanian-registered Ocean Bridge at about 3 a.m. just north of Malaysia's Port Klang.

''They stole some money from the safe and fled in their small wooden boat,'' Choong said. No one was hurt in the incident.

A Malaysian police spokesman said the pirates stole about

$20,000 dollars from the safe, an amount also mentioned by Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda during a press conference in Tokyo.

The 26,013-ton vessel with a Filipino crew was heading to India from Port Klang, which is about 50 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur.

In Tokyo, MK Shipmanagement Co., the Ocean Bridge's owners, said all 21 crew members are safe.

Kazuhiko Ochi of MK Shipmanagement's operations division told Kyodo News the Panamanian-registered Ocean Bridge left Port Klang about 1 a.m., unladen, heading for India to pick up a cargo of iron ore.

The attack, in which the three armed pirates demanded the captain give them money, came about two hours after the ship had left port, Ochi said.

He said because no one was hurt in the incident, the ship is continuing its trip to India.

The attack on the Ocean Bridge comes barely more than two weeks after three sailors -- two Japanese and one Filipino -- were kidnapped by pirates from the Japanese-owned tugboat Idaten, also in the Malacca Strait.

The three crewmen from the tug were released unharmed about a week after being abducted by a dozen or more pirates March 14.

The pirates in the Idaten case reportedly demanded $250,000 for the release of their three captives, and some reports say tugboat owner Kondo Kaiji Co. of Kitakyushu paid $200,000 for their safe release.

But other reports say no ransom was paid, and Choong told Kyodo News on Friday a report he received from the owners of the barge being towed by the Itaden at the time of the pirate attack claimed no ransom had been paid.

The Idaten pirates are still at large, as are those who attacked the Ocean Bridge on Friday.

Investigations continue into both cases, and security in the Malacca Strait remains a concern despite the fact that pirates released three crew members of the Japanese tugboat unharmed.

Shortly after the Idaten crewmen were released, Choong said the IMB remains concerned about the security and safety in the strait and urged regional authorities ''to beef up patrols and urge the relevant authority to investigate the case thoroughly and take stern action against the culprits.''

The strait is regarded as a haven for pirates where 37 attacks were reported last year.

The attack on the Ocean Bridge was the fourth pirate attack on ships sailing through the busy sealane in just over a month.

In a related development, the New Straits Times newspaper reported Friday that uniformed police officers armed with assault weapons would be posted on board tugboats and barges plying the strait from May.

This is in addition to the escort service the police launched last month for tugs and barges carrying valuable cargo.

Federal Internal Security and Public Order director Othman Talib told the newspaper in an interview the measures are meant to restore international and local shippers' confidence.

''We have received several complaints from worried shippers and we have to assure them that the safety of their goods and the crew on the boats is being taken care of,'' Othman was quoted as saying.

So far this year, there have been three robberies in the strait, two involving tugs and barges and one a fishing vessel.

Last year, there were 13 cases, eight involving fishing vessels and five involving tugs and barges.

Othman said the policemen to be stationed on the ships would be drawn from the 3,000-strong Internal Security and Public Order Department.

''Those assigned will be in uniform and armed. We will station them on randomly chosen ships the minute the vessels enter our waters,'' he said.

The policemen will be on ships plying between Langkawi and Pulau Perak, which is half the length of the strait, as most cases reported have been in this area.

The other half, from Pulau Perak to Singapore, was well guarded by Malaysia's joint patrols with Singapore.