history of piracy in southeast asia

The seas surrounding the island are overexploited and the marine habitats have been destroyed by bomb and cyanide fishing and other sources of income are difficult to find on the island.[8]. [6] Complicating the issue even further is the fact that many countries within Southeast Asia have not been able to agree on the actual sea boundaries between their respective nations. During the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s, the issue of piracy in Southeast Asia received substantial academic attention. [17] An important issue is also the payment of seafarers, especially those working on vessels where the flag state has not ratified any agreements concerning minimum wages and welfare of mariners. Also, Southeast Asian fishers who live in heavily over-fished areas occasionally voyage into neighbouring countries’ EEZs to fish. A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime, New York: North Point Press, 2004, pp. Over-fishing and Maritime BoundariesThe overall nature of the fishing industry in the region has changed profoundly in the past century, with a number of factors responsible for the transformation of the fishing sector. Adam J. Over-fishing, pollution and the ensuing poverty of fishers and their families, as well as the division of the ocean into different national zones and jurisdictions, impacts directly upon the occurrence of piracy in Southeast Asia in two different ways. Despite the fact that piracy and armed robbery of ships are declining in Asia, the threat of kidnapping for ransom and hijackings persists. 422-3. [21] The name of the vessel has been changed. In fact, according to data from the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, Asia was the most ‘pirate infested’ region in the world between 1992 and 2006. Of particular importance in this respect is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was adopted in 1982 and came into force on 16 November 1994. Particularly affected are those fishers operating small vessels which are not capable of sailing long-distances to more promising and productive fishing grounds. 19, 2005. [3] See: John  G. Butcher, The Closing of the Frontier. As resources have become sparse and competition among fishers has become fierce, management and protection of fisheries has become an absolute necessity. [2] International Maritime Bureau, Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships, Annual Reports 1992-2006. Organised pirate gangs in particular benefit from this system, as they are able to re-register hijacked vessels under a new flag. The last decade has witnessed in Southeast Asia an upsurge of piracy. An industry group says the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore have experienced a rise in sea piracy in recent months, and a relative surge in 2019. PovertyEven though local economies recovered after the 1997 financial crisis, poverty is still widespread in many countries in Southeast Asia and has an impact on the occurrence of pirate attacks. [36] Interview with Zee Hai, head of Koperasi Nelayan Hilir Perak Berhad, April 2005, Hutan Melintang. Recent scholarship, however, has shifted the focus to Somali piracy and the resurgence of piracy in Southeast Asia has largely been neglected in the academic community. While the group’s overall aims have been political in nature, the Abu Sayyaf has also been associated with such criminal activities. A longer version of this paper was presented at: Australia and Asia: Issues of Global Security, University of Western Australia, 17 August 2007. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung, for example, stated in 2002: “We are asking our fishermen not to encroach into Indonesian waters as they will not only face pirates but also cause misunderstandings with the Indonesian navy.”[9] These misunderstandings with the Indonesian navy or other Indonesian naval authorities include what Malaysian fishers refer to as pirate attacks. Furthermore, fishers have in recent years increasingly been forced to make up-front payments to pirate gangs in order to fish safely in certain areas, and the hijacking of fishing boats and kidnapping of crew for ransom have become regular occurrences in some parts of Southeast Asia, such as the Malacca Straits. 1 January – 31 December 2004, Barking, Essex: International Chamber of Commerce, 2005. Southeast Asia contains several highly-trafficked sea lanes and straits, which are used for international trade. Carolin Liss of Murdoch University writes that “combating piracy is a difficult and complex task, requiring more than the patrolling of piracy-prone waters.” Liss argues that five factors “are of particular importance in shaping piracy in Southeast Asia: over-fishing, lax maritime regulations, the existence of organised crime syndicates, the presence of radical politically motivated groups in the region, and widespread poverty.” After a detailed analysis of the impact these issues in Southeast Asia, Liss stresses that “in order to be successful, responses to piracy have to address most, if not all, of these problems and issues.” In a subsequent Austral Policy Forum, Liss will assess prevailing responses to piracy and Australia’s role. The vessel was en-route from Port Klang on the western coast of Malaysia to India, laden with palm oil, when it was hijacked. Most significant has been the development of new sophisticated technology since the 1950s, resulting in the construction of more effective distant-water fishing vessels and equipment. Download The Resurgence Of Sea Piracy In Southeast Asia Book For Free in PDF, EPUB. Both types of pirates are able to conduct attacks because they exploit security shortcomings in the maritime environment and benefit from political, social, and economic developments which are conducive to the occurrence such attacks. Malaysian fishing vessels based in Hutan Melintang which operate in Indonesian waters carry at least between RM1,000 and RM5,000 in cash to pay off corrupt Indonesian officials or for emergency repairs. The vessel was renamed and later found off the Chinese coast in May 2000. [7] Yamada Yoshihiko, ‘Defending Asian Seas from Marauding by Pirates‘, Japanese Dynamism no. The main distinguishing factor between the two different types of open register is that traditional FOCs mostly require the owner to have some kind of physical presence in the flag state, whereas many of the new open registers require no such presence. David Osler, ‘Sierra Leone Registry Hits Back in Row Over Stolen Ship Natris’, Lloyds List, 29 December 2005. But I did not find any and I had to try my luck in Batam where I became a pirate in order to earn my living. Basic PLUS Author Transnational organised pirate gangs are involved in long-term and permanent seizures of predominantly medium sized vessels, including cargo ships, bulk carriers and tankers. 46-83. [22] Furthermore, low wages paid to seafarers, port officials, and dock workers can also offer an incentive for corrupt or desperate mariners or port personnel to accept payments from criminal organisations in exchange for information about a vessel. Your email address will not be published. Schulze argues that the price the GAM had to pay for its expansion was the increasing criminalisation of parts of the group. Piracy. Since the mid-1990s, as Soeharto’s New Order regime unravelled, Indonesian ports and territorial waters have been identified as the most pirate-infested in Southeast Asia. In 2003, the vessel was re-registered as the Paulijing, with the international Merchant Marine Registry of Belize issuing a provisional registration based on documents stating the vessel’s previous name as Victoria. Piracy has surged this year along Southeast Asia’s straits of Malacca and Singapore, one of the world’s busiest trade routes, according to a watch group that tracks maritime security. In 2003, for example, the MILF was responsible for 16 out of 155 actual and attempted attacks recorded in the Philippines. [38] Eric Frecon, ‘Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea Along the Malacca Straits: Initial Impressions from Fieldwork in the Riau Islands’, in Graham Gerard Ong-Webb (ed. In order to be successful, responses to piracy have to address most, if not all, of these problems and issues. Many native peoples engaged in sea raiding. For rogue security personnel, such attacks are easier to conduct if a boat happens to be caught fishing illegally in waters under their jurisdiction. Article. According to the notarised documents, the ship had been deleted from the Sierra Leone registry and had been sold to its new owner for only US $10,000. International attention began to focus on SE Asian piracy in the late 1990s, after a number of high profile attacks. This volume seeks to remedy this gap in the current literature. The waters around the island are polluted and over-fished and the catch of local fishers is often not adequate to sustain the fishers and their families. An example is the shipjacking of the tanker Selayang on 20 June 2001 in the Malacca Straits by 19 pirates. ), Piracy, Maritime Terrorism and Securing the Malacca Straits, Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2006, pp. Furthermore, some of the victims were in earlier years taken into GAM territory in Aceh and held in the jungle.[36]. In the case of such an arrest the Malaysian boat is brought to Indonesia and detained until the owner pays a substantial sum for the release of the vessel and crew, often after a months-long negotiation process. Contemporary Maritime Piracy in Southeast Asia: History, Causes and Remedies. [35], The GAM is also believed to be responsible for attacks on fishing boats, targeting Indonesia fishers and trawlers from Peninsular Malaysia. Article. 12, no. existed in this region long before the arrival of the . [33] Rupert Herbert-Burns and Lauren Zucker, ‘Malevolent Tide: Fusion and Overlaps in Piracy and Maritime Terrorism’, Washington, DC: Marine Intelligence Group, 30 July 2004, p. 7. Adam Young . 36, March 2005, p. 10. With one third of world shipping going through the regions’ waters, the costs to trade and shipping are likely to be extensive. [32] Members of the Abu Sayyaf are also thought to be responsible for pirate attacks in the waters of the southern Philippines. During the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s, the issue of piracy in Southeast Asia received substantial academic attention. The cargo was believed to have been sold to Chinese buyers. Southeast Asia was the location of 41% of the world’s pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013. The destruction of estuaries, wetlands and reefs, as well as increasing pollution has also played an important role. To print or save translation as PDF, first scan to end to translate whole text, then hit icon to save as PDF file. To maintain the high level of catches, some Malaysian fishers based along the northern stretches of the Malacca Straits fish illegally in Indonesian waters, which are believed to be better fishing grounds. The Strait of Malacca's geography makes the region very susceptible to piracy. During the attack, one member of the tender’s crew suffered serious injuries but other crewmembers were able to capture a pirate before he could escape with his gang. [34] Kirsten E. Schulze, ‘The Free Aceh Movement (GAM): Anatomy of a Separatist Organization’, Washington: East-West Center, 2004, p. 2, 17. ConclusionIn summary, all these factors discussed above, including lax maritime rules and regulations, poverty, the impact of ecological degradation and over-fishing and the existence of organised crime groups and radical politically motivated organisations in the region are conducive to the occurrence of pirate attacks in Southeast Asia and shape the nature of such attacks. [2] Only the African Region transcended Southeast Asia in the number of attacks. This volume seeks to remedy this gap in the current literature. [14] The registry of Cambodia offers an example of how new open registers operate. [23] Quoted in: International Transport Workers’ Federation, ‘Fight Fatigue. A further worry is an increase in hostage taking of crewmembers for ransom in recent years.[2]. We cannot guarantee that every book is in the library. In the narrow straits, islands and conflicted region of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Thailand), there continue to be problems with piracy. These changes include the economic opening of China and the country’s gradual shift towards capitalism as well as the 1997 Asian financial crisis. December 2007. Mike M Armstrong. Historically, piracy in the Strait of Malacca was not only a lucrative way of life but also an important political tool. Since the late 1980s, Southeast Asia has become one of the global ‘hot spots’ of pirate attacks on merchant vessels and fishing boats. This article gives you some very useful information of the history of sea Piracy in the southeast Asian region of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Examples of such pirates include small, loosely-organised pirate gangs which attack merchant vessels in the Malacca Straits operating from islands in the Riau Archipelago, including Belakang Padang and the Jemaja group. Contemporary Maritime Piracy in Southeast Asia: History, Causes and Remedies. In these cases, a vessel and its crew is held hostage for a limited time, or the entire vessel is shipjacked by pirates and is then turned into a ‘phantom ship’. 17 Articles, By For example, it is believed that crew fatigue played a role in the attack on the Alondra Rainbow, which was hijacked on 22 October 1999. [19] Other criticisms regarding the new security initiatives include concerns over the falsification of ISPS related papers and the corruption of institutions issuing these documents.[20]. Also, the economic growth of the region, including the development of financial centres such as Singapore and Hong Kong, and the increase of trade within and beyond Asia have been beneficial for operations conducted by Asian based organised criminals.[27]. As one mariner states: “12-15 hour days, never had six hours continuous sleep, 87 hour week for three months. It is therefore not surprising then that piracy has a long history in SE Asia; it was not simply an economic activity, for some communities it was also a traditional, lucrative and prestigious way of life. Finding targets is not difficult for these fishers because the island is located near the Philip Channel, one of the world’s busiest waterways. Southeast Asia was the location of 41% of the world’s pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013. We will never sell or rent your email address. [6] Butcher, The Closing of the Frontier, p. 231. In Southeast Asia, maritime terrorism by violent non-state actors, mainly takes place in the Sulu and Celebes Seas, with Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) considered as the main perpetrator. 6, Tokyo Foundation, 2004, accessed 16 August 2005. A study estimated that between 1970 and 2000 fisheries resources depreciated by over 40 per cent in the straits, with the northern part particularly affected. While fishers based in this region seldom talk about their illegal fishing activities, their encroachment into foreign waters is a real concern for Malaysian politicians who also acknowledge that those vessels are easy victims for Indonesian pirates. The crew was set adrift in a life raft and the vessel itself was eventually captured and detained by the Indian coast guard on 16 November 1999. It is here that conditions are ideal for seaborne robbery. [15] International Labour Office, The Global Seafarer, p. 42. [12] While the work conducted by these authorities is important, there are many shortcomings and problems inherent in the set-up and operations of these regulatory bodies. [37] Interview with Pottungal Mukundan, Director of the IMB, June 2004, Barking. These describe the area as ―infested‖ in translated Indian and Chinese works.16 As this paper delves into the history of piracy in Southeast Asia, and the 197-219. Most important are the differences between the old, ‘traditional’ open registers, such as Liberia and Panama, and new open registers established in the past ten to 15 years. However, it is to the West where piracy is of global significance. The pirates waited for their [35] Vijay Sakhuja, ‘The Sea Muggers Are Back in Malacca Straits ‘. An example of such activities is shipjackings conducted by organised pirate gangs. We targeted cargo ships.”[38]. [31] Andreas Harsono, ‘Mr Wong: Pirate or Law-abiding Citizen‘, 13 April 1999, accessed 12 July 2006. [1] International Maritime Bureau, Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships. Recent scholarship, however, has shifted the focus to Somali piracy and the resurgence of piracy in Southeast Asia has largely been neglected in the academic community. Piracy in Southeast Asia A Historical Comparison Ger Teitler University of Amsterdam and the Royal Netherlands Naval College Abstract The last decade has witnessed in Southeast Asia an upsurge of piracy. An example of the possible consequence of employing an unreliable crew is the attack on the MV Clown[21] near the island of Batam in 2000. During the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s, the issue of piracy in Southeast Asia received substantial academic attention. With the implementation of UNCLOS, fishermen were no longer allowed to fish in waters now considered to be under the jurisdiction of another country, unless they acquired special fishing licenses. At the time, 17 pirate gangs were believed to be operating in the country, six of them having links to, or consisting of members of, the MILF. [5] Wayne S. Ball, ‘The Old Grey Mare, National Enclosure of the Oceans’, Ocean Development & International Law, vol. Copyright © 2021 Nautilus Institute. In 2004, for example, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) was asked for help in the case of two Burmese seafarers working on the Panamanian flagged vessel Lung Yuin, who had received US $300 in two years of work. Maritime security solutions Associated Risks, Article Source: For this purpose, the stolen vessel has to be renamed, parts of it repainted, and ‘new’ documents presented to the registry. The distinction between outright pirate attacks by members of local authorities and the legitimate collection of ‘fees’ for illegal fishing are somewhat blurred in these incidents. For example, even in major ports, with the most advance security screening systems in place, the number of vessels and containers opened and examined remains below 10 per cent. However, the evidence of the group’s involvement in pirate attacks is mostly ‘anecdotal’. 9, September 2000, p. 51. In these incidents, Malaysian vessels are approached by Indonesian navy or marine police officials and threatened with arrest for illegal fishing. For example, the payment of low wages, mostly on FOC vessels, can result in the employment of less well trained and more unreliable seafarers with no allegiance to neither their employer nor the shipowner. Annual Report. 1, Jan/Feb 2006, p. 9. Adam J. https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Mike_M_Armstrong/288022, Business: Security Recent scholarship, however, has shifted the focus to Somali piracy and the resurgence of piracy in Southeast Asia has largely been neglected in the academic community. Some of these desperate fishers then turn to piracy to supplement their incomes. The Annual Report for 2015 from the Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows that of the 246 actual and attempted incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2015, 202 occurred in Asian waters. [28] Interview with the manager of the vessel, October 2003, Singapore. It was later established that the ringleaders of the pirates were based on Batam, Indonesia, and that they recruited struggling fishers to carry out attacks. If attacked in Indonesian waters, the Malaysian vessels cannot expect assistance from Indonesian or Malaysian authorities. Yet, not only organisation but also upfront capital is needed for such an operation to pay part of the money promised to the actual pirates and to cover other costs associated with hijackings, such as the payment for the new registration of the stolen vessel.[29]. The pirates waited for their victims in the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea [2]. For example, it was through the loyalty of pirate crews made of Orang Laut people that the 14th-century Palembang prince Parameswara survived expansion attempts by neighbouring rulers and eventually went on to found the Sultanate of Malacca. Asia is home to some of the largest crime syndicates, which have expanded their operations across national and regional borders and have embraced new technology to conduct their illegal operations. He believes that GAM conducts the attacks with its own fleet of stolen Indonesian fishing vessels, which are slimmer and faster than the Malaysian boats and are therefore suitable for such attacks. Your email address will not be published. Stewart, Piraten, pp. Southeast Asia has been known for centuries as an area rife with piratical and maritime raiding traditions. Although often regarded as the antithesis of trade, piracy is actually closely related to the world of commerce. [13], There are, however, significant differences in rules, and how they are enforced, between the various open registers. Just like me, many came from miserable kampung. Overall, the problems and loopholes in the regulation and control of the maritime industry are conducive to the operations of pirates. Furthermore, when state support for such politically motivated groups decreased after the end of the Cold War, guerrillas as well as terrorists have increasingly become involved in criminal activities to finance their operations. Did not dare to sit down on watch.”[23] As he himself is aware, fatigue increases the risk of accidents and decreases the awareness of seafarers for any kind of danger, including approaching pirates. Yet, regardless of the reason for the decline in fish stocks, it increased poverty among fishers and fishing communities in some areas in Southeast Asia. Even before it came into force in 1994, the UNCLOS conventions contributed to clarifying the legal ownership of the oceans. The natural geography and human ecology of maritime Southeast Asia makes the area particularly apt for piracy. So why have we now seen a similar-style attack in the region after such a long hiatus? Safer Ships Demand Realistic Manning‘, accessed 29 June 2007, p. n. p. And: International Trade Workers’ Federation, ‘Fatigue‘, accessed 14 May 2004. However, little is known about the structure of triads involved in piracy and until today no high ranking triad member or leader has been arrested and charged for involvement in maritime piracy. For instance, in 414 a Buddhist monk Shih Fa-Hsien, who was travelling from Ceylon to China, described the dangers of pirate attacks. Firstly, the impoverishment of fishers due to declining catches and rivalry among fishers can be a factor in pushing fishermen towards supplementing their meagre incomes by conducting pirate attacks. 2342 Shattuck Ave. #300, Berkeley, CA 94704 | Phone: (510) 423-0372 | Email: nautilus@nautilus.org. https://nautilus.org/apsnet/the-roots-of-piracy-in-southeast-asia/, Defending Asian Seas from Marauding by Pirates, Surviving in the Margin: Coastal Livelihoods in the Riau Islands, Indonesia, Fight Fatigue. [17] David Osler, ‘Flags of Convenience Fail to Verify Up to 85% of Officer Certificates’.’ Lloyds List, 11 July 2005. Among these are reports from hostages who, after their return to Hutan Melintang, stated that their kidnappers wore uniforms, insignia and badges identifying them as GAM members. Once the fee is paid, the vessel is allowed to continue to fish.[10]. During the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s, the issue of piracy in Southeast Asia received substantial academic attention. Safer Ships Demand Realistic Manning. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable items or properties. Although often regarded as the antithesis of trade, piracy is actually closely related to the world of commerce. [29] Douglas Stewart, Piraten. There are many weak or failed states along the Indian Ocean. The extra cash on board these fishing vessels in turn makes them tempting targets for all types of pirates. Pirates of the South East Asian Seas | Son Of Mars, Indonesia Natural Answer to Asian Piracy | The Eastern Dispatch, Piracy in South-East Asian Waters on Rise | Neptune Maritime Security, Piracy in South-East Asian Waters on Rise | maritimesecuritynews, Why pirate attacks are falling everywhere in the world except for Southeast Asia | Scroll CMS, Why pirate attacks are falling everywhere in the world except for Southeast Asia – Quartz, Prirazlomnaya Platform Greenpeace Incident – Officer of the Watch, Pirates of the Southeast Asian Seas | Neptune, View this online at: https://nautilus.org/apsnet/the-roots-of-piracy-in-southeast-asia/, Nautilus Institute Within Asia, however, piracy hot-spots shifted between countries and ocean areas over time. The ship was hijacked on 17 November 2002 when leaving a shipyard on Batam and disappeared. 27, 1996, p. 126. [18], There are also concerns about shortcomings in port state control. While many criminal operations by Asian and Southeast Asian crime syndicates are conducted on land, some illegal activities such as smuggling take place at sea, at least in part. A Thai Tanker Robbery Suggests the return of Organised Crime in the region. However, while it is feasible to conclude that the GAM leadership does not endorse pirate attacks, it cannot be ruled out that GAM members or people loosely connected to the organisation may be involved in piracy, particularly after the expansion of the GAM and the ensuing criminalisation of the movement. As noted by The Economist 14 years ago, global piracy doubled during the 1990s, to 200 attacks per year as of 1999, with the bulk taking place in Asia. Of these 108 were in Indonesian waters, 70 elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and 24 in the Indian sub-continent. However, these improvements adversely affected fish stocks, with the strain on ocean stocks beginning to show in many fishing grounds in Southeast Asia from the 1960s onwards. The suppression of piracy and other forms of maritime violence was a keystone in the colonisation of Southeast Asia. The crew of this vessel had decided on an un-authorised stop-over in Batam to spend an evening on the island, which is well known for its inexpensive prostitutes, drugs and gambling. The French researcher Eric Frecon, who conducted extensive fieldwork in the area, believes that poverty and the lack of other employment opportunities are the most important motivations for people in these villages to become pirates. John McFarlane, ‘Transnational Crime and Asia-Pacific Security’, in Sheldon W. Simon (ed. ), Piracy, Maritime Terrorism and Securing the Malacca Straits, Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2006, p. 71. Shaping Piracy in Southeast Asia Pirates active in the region can be divided into two groups: (1) opportunistic sea-robbers, involved in small scale attacks, and (2) sophisticated organised pirate gangs, responsible for hijackings and other major pirate attacks. [20] ‘Alleged ISPS Corruption Revealed‘, Lloyd’s Register, Fairplay, 23 August 2004, accessed 16 April 2006. Combating piracy is consequently a difficult and complex task, requiring more than the patrolling of piracy-prone waters. During the piracy boom of the early to mid-2000s, the issue of piracy in Southeast Asia received substantial academic attention. Between 1998 and the signing of the 2005 peace agreement between the GAM and the Indonesian government, the conflict in Aceh escalated, with the insurgents increasing their active membership fivefold. Recent scholarship, however, has shifted the focus to Somali piracy and the resurgence of piracy in Southeast Asia has largely been neglected in the academic community. The last decade has witnessed in Southeast Asia an upsurge of piracy. Contemporary Maritime Piracy in Southeast Asia: History, Causes and Remedies. Read as many books as you like (Personal use) and Join Over 150.000 Happy Readers. [10] Interview with Zee Hai, Head of Koperasi Nelayan Hilir Perak Berhad, April 2005, Hutan Melintang.

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