ICC warns of potential “environmental disaster” due to Asian tanker attacks
ICC warns of potential “environmental disaster” due to Asian tanker attacks
The International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce has warned that attacks by pirates against tankers in Indonesian waters could lead to an environmental disaster.
“Vulnerable vessels, such as a gas tanker and chemical tankers, have been targeted by heavily armed pirate gangs,” the Paris-based organization said.
In its latest quarterly piracy report, the International Maritime Bureau reported that numbers of piracy attacks on shipping throughout the world reached a record 344 in the first nine months of 2003, with Indonesian waters remaining the most dangerous.
“A spate of attacks against small tankers in the Malacca Straits by gangs of heavily armed pirates aboard fishing boats and fast craft has heightened tension in the area,” the International Maritime Bureau report said. “These have led to repeated warnings from the International Maritime Bureau and its piracy reporting center, which fear an environmental disaster in these restricted waters if a larger tanker is subjected to the same type of attack.”
“In most cases the attacks are thought to be led by Aceh rebels,” the International Maritime Bureau said. Their main aim was to raise money to finance their separatist fight by holding hostages for ransom, the maritime bureau added.
Most of the attacks appear to be close to the rebels’ stronghold in Sumatra.
The International Chamber of Commerce reported that, in July alone, there were three attempted boardings off the Sumatra coast in the Malacca Straits, one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
“Pirates raked a liquefied petroleum gas tanker, a gas tanker and an oil tanker with automatic fire, but in each case the crews managed to thwart the attacks,” the Paris-based body said.
More recently, a fully laden oil tanker, the “Penrider,” was “attacked by pirates wearing military-style fatigues and carrying assault rifles,” it added.