TNAG-2897-FCO40-4171-Hong-Kong-piracy-in-the-South-China-Sea-1993 — Page 37

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Low-Level Armed Robbery (LLAR)

6 This is by far the most common form of attack in the area under examination and accounts for the great majority of the recorded incidents. It is generally carried out in the vicinity of land from small high-speed craft by groups of petty thieves armed with machettes, clubs and, occasionally, low velocity weapons such as pistols and shotguns. The vast majority of the attacks by such groups are carried out at night, generally between 22.00 hrs and 04.00 hrs. The perpetrators are judged to come. from criminal and fishing communities based close to the area of attack (see paragraph 13 on "modus operandi").

Medium-Level Armed Assault and Robbery (MLAAR)

7 The people involved in this style of attack are invariably better organized and more heavily armed than those who commit LLAR. They tend to be drawn from criminal elements with indigenous seamen or fishermen as the 'foot soldiers'. There has only been one attack of this type in the area under principal consideration since 1990. However, this style of attack is prevalent in Philippine territorial waters and the increasing number of attacks in the Hong Kong/Luzon/Hainan (HLH) triangle has been of this type. Often the groups use trawlers as 'mother ships' for high-speed craft, employ heavier weapons and wear paramilitary clothing. Many of the attacks do not include either hijack or robbery and the motives of many such attacks are unclear. Many of these incidents take place on the high seas.

Major Criminal Hijack (MCHJ)

8 As the title implies, this group of attacks requires considerable planning and resources and aims at making very large profits. Vessels involved in these types of attack will be hijacked by large bands of armed men and either held while the cargo is discharged or transferred before release, or the ship will be remanned, renamed and even traded by the hijackers. This is a major international criminal activity, which involves detailed planning and organization, good market knowledge of both the cargo and the ship and extreme violence by the hijackers. Often crews will be set adrift or murdered. While this style of attack is a danger in the South China Sea, no reports are available of such acts in other parts of the world. Understandably, MCHJ is of considerable concern to the police authorities in the area. Attacks have taken place both on the high seas and in the territorial waters of some littoral States in the South China Sea.

Miscellaneous attacks

9 There have been a few attacks which, because of paucity of information, cannot be grouped under any of the above headings. This, once again, underlines the necessity for good reports from ships.

Terrorist involvement

10 With the exception of the attacks off the Horn of Africa and the Southern Red Sea, where, as mentioned before, terrorists or guerillas have hijacked ships for terrorist financial gain, there have been very few terrorist incidents in the sea areas studied. There are, however, suspicions, unsupported by hard evidence, that terrorist groups have used piracy and armed

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