of distances most places are close. The whole of the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea can be considered to be close to singapore. We have been working closely with the other Asean countries and are trying to upgrade our patrols. Some of these people just get on board the ship, grab whatever is valuable and disappear into the darkness of the night.
BILLINGS: Sometimes they hold up the master of the
the ship and force him to open up the ship's safe?
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MINISTER: Yes we have heard reports of this sort. The best advice to shipowners would be the sort of advice that police give to householders that is if you have anything valuable you should take extra precautions. My advice to shipowners would be to have additional guards if they sail through the hours of darkness through areas that have a reputation for such incidents,
BILLINGS: Would you suggest that ships not navigate during the
hours of darkness?
MINISTER: I don't think that is necessary. That is excessive.
The number of incidents is not really
not really that high considering the fact that there are 40,000 to 50,000 ships going through the waters in this region. The number of incidents reported each year is in the order of 50, maybe 20s or 30s
that sort of order of magnitude. I don't think it's wise to be unduly cautious.
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BILLINGS: But is is a persistent problem isn't it? It is something that worries ship owners because it is their ships that are attacked. It has been suggested that (inaudible)
MINISTER: I don't think that there is anything to suggest that
that is the
case at all.
SO'd 06398085 S9
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Our experience is that a
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