REPORT: PIRATE ATTACKS HAVE TRIPLED IN A DECADE

REPORT: PIRATE ATTACKS HAVE TRIPLED IN A DECADE    Pirate attacks on ships have tripled in the last decade, with a reported 103 attacks in the first three months of this year, according to a report by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau.
   In its quarterly report, the International Maritime Bureau found the number of attacks in the first three months of this year have already equaled the total number of recorded pirate attacks for all of 1993.
   The report found that Indonesian waters continue to be the world’s most dangerous, with 28 pirate attacks recorded between January and March.
   Nigeria also recorded a jump in recorded attacks. Nine ships were attacked off Nigerian waters in the first quarter of this year, compared to six in 2002.
   “A total of 145 seafarers were reported killed, assaulted, kidnapped or missing in the first quarter of 2003, with bulk carriers nominated as the vessels most likely to face attack,” the International Maritime Bureau said.
   The International Maritime Bureau is the maritime crime prevention division of the International Chamber of Commerce.
   Capt. Pottengal Mukundan, director of International Maritime Bureau, said the bureau’s Kuala Lumpur-based piracy reporting center continued to work with local law enforcement agencies to prevent the attacks, but added more needed to be done to prosecute pirates once they are caught.