Piracy down in risky Malacca Strait, thanks to regional policing

November 3, 2006 by SwizStick  
Filed under Misc Logistics, Seafreight

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Via Yahoo! News:

Regional cooperation on policing the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, has led to a sharp fall this year in piracy attacks, cutting the cost of insuring cargo plying its hazardous waters. Crews are now considered less likely to become victims of “maritime muggings” by seaborne assailants.
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“The number of attacks has gone down, that’s for sure … [but] the pirates haven’t been caught, they’re just lying low,” says Noel Choong, head of the piracy watch center of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur. He says that shipowners are reluctant to report minor piracy incidents as it delays their passage and can add to insurance costs.

According to the IMB’s piracy center, just three incidents were reported in the Malacca Strait in the first half of this year, the lowest level since 1999. Far more pirate-prone, based on current data, are the coastlines of Nigeria and Somalia, where attacks are on the increase.

The downward trend in the Malacca Strait began last year, when attempted and actual attacks fell to 18, down from 38 in 2004.

In response to the decline in attacks in the strait, the British-based maritime insurer Lloyd’s removed the region from its war-risk insurance category in August, one year after it was put there. This measure had added an extra premium of up to 1 percent of cargo value, infuriating shipping lines.

You can read more about the Malacca Strait here and here.

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