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14 Nevertheless, there may be situations when a ship under attack will not be able to include information on the ship's current position in the message to shore, or may include position information which is incorrect, e.g. due to the stress/haste of the situation. In such cases, it would be a great advantage if shore authorities were equipped with facilities for determining/calculating the position of the ship being attacked. Generally speaking, this can be done by performing radio direction finding (DF) measurements from at least two separate positions giving crossing bearings to the ship's transmitter. Those parts of the Malacca/Singapore Strait area which are or will be covered by a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) system, are
or will be covered by shore-based VHF direction finding systems established to determine the relationship between radar targets and information about ship identities, as reported by VHF radio. (The system covering the Singapore Strait is called "Singapore Vessel Traffic Information Service (VTIS)"). Such communication- and DF-systems will normally not operate on VHF channel 16, but can easily be switched to this channel if the operators are requested to do so in cases of emergency, etc. Thus, in areas covered by VTS systems, it should be possible at least in theory to utilize the DF-part of such systems in cases of attacks by pirates or armed robbers. It should also be noted that the Singapore VTIS is capable of performing DF measurements on transmissions from certain areas belonging to Indonesia (the Southern part of the Singapore Strait), but there will be "blind sectors" in these areas due to the shadowing effect of islands in the
area.
15 The littoral States in the Malacca/Singapore Strait area are recommended to verify the existing systems and to make suitable preparations for systems under planning, that suitable communications links and procedures are available/established, so that VHF DF facilities established for traffic control, etc. may be utilized rapidly and effectively also if needed in cases of piracy attacks.
16
Large areas inside the Malacca/Singapore Strait area are, however, not yet covered by VHF DF systems and will possibly not be covered in the future, so this method can not be depended upon as a general method for determining the position of ships being attacked. To cover all of the Malacca/Singapore Strait area by establishing supplementary shore-based VHF DF systems purely for this purpose (i.e. not as part of a VTS system) is a theoretical possibility, but would require significant investments. Although such systems would contribute to combating piracy and armed robbery, experience so far regarding current piracy problems in the area, does not justify any recommendations from the Group in this respect. But, as already noted, in those areas which are, or will be, covered by VHF DF systems established primarily for other purposes, it is important that necessary preparations are made to enable their effective utilization also in cases of piracy attacks.
17
Even in those cases where ships are able to transmit messages to relevant shore authorities prior to, or during, attacks, it may still be impossible for law enforcement agencies to reach the areas of attack with patrol facilities before the attackers have left the areas (some attacks only last in the order of 10 minutes). Furthermore, attackers often use small, high speed craft and, because of the numerous islands in the Malacca/Singapore Strait area, it is generally a difficult task for law enforcement agencies to apprehend attackers. However, in those areas which are covered, or which will be covered in the future by VTS or other types of Government-operated radar surveillance systems, consideration should be given to using the radar facilities of such systems for combating piracy. If a ship is capable of
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