GOVERMENT HOUSE HONG KONG.
WED 27 MAY 92 08:53
PG.10
6
ISF
received the reports
from national federations and
passed them on to IMO. He expressed surprise at the low
number of attacks recorded in the IMO statistics, as the .
number of known attacks. was far greater. He then drew
attention to
the brutality of the attacks and the environmental problems which could arise if a pirate attack resulted in serious pollution. In view of the severity of these problems, he suggested the meeting should highlight the potential dangers and draw attention to the need for
action.
20. Captain Brown (Shell Tankers) pointed out that ships radars
were being used to detect and track pirate vessels in confined waters where they should be used for navigation. He pointed out that this could result in accidents causing major pollution problems which would affect everybody, and in particular the adjacent states.
Industry's View of the Problem
21. MM. Ellen referred to the possibility that the pirates from a mother ship, and that the acts of piracy may
Operated
be part Of an organised crime set-up. He noted that ships
of certain
had not been subjected to attack,
nationalities
namely USA and Israel.
22. The
occur
possibility of placing armed police or guards on board ships while transiting areas in which attacks were known to
was considered.
The logistics were considered
impracticable, as approximately 1000 ships transit the
Singapore Straits each week. Further obstacles to such a
scheme include legality, funding, and difficulties in picking and disembarking the guards without disruption to commercial schedules. Captain Brown suggested police guards would be acceptable in principle, but said he would not like to see a private vigilante force hired by shipowners.