TNAG-2897-FCO40-4171-Hong-Kong-piracy-in-the-South-China-Sea-1993 — Page 79

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Conclusions

41 Generally speaking, merchant ships being attacked or being subject to attempted attacks by pirates and armed robbers, normally delay too long the transmission of radio messages to the authorities in the relevant littoral State. This factor seriously reduces the possibility of law enforcement agencies apprehending attackers. There is, therefore, a need for ships in general to take the necessary precautions and to implement the necessary facilities and procedures to ensure rapid reporting of any case of attack or attempted attack.

42 The shore-based radio facilities in the Malacca/Singapore Strait area are generally characterized as satisfactory, although improvements would be desirable in certain respects. This relates, in particular, to VHF communications but the Group was informed that such improvements are planned both with respect to area coverage

and starting this year with respect to the gradual introduction of DSC: the three countries in the Malacca/Singapore area are planning to establish a complete "Al area" (GMDSS) covering most of this area but the time for full implementation has not yet been decided.

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43 The MF radio services in the area are occasionally problematic particular radio telephony in the MF band. However, these problems are mainly caused by very high levels of atmospheric noise; for which there is no simple remedy. The HF band seems to be adequately covered by coast stations in the area and some of these stations are considered to be very efficient by the shipping community.

44 Parts of the area under consideration are already covered by VTS and other types of radar surveillance systems and the coverage of such systems is planned to be expanded in the years to come. Consideration should be given to utilizing such systems also for anti-piracy purposes. The design of (at least some of) these systems indicates that they should also be capable of detecting small craft of the types used by pirates and armed robbers and could, therefore, be a useful tool in assisting law enforcement agencies to find and apprehend attackers operating within the coverage of such systems. Also the VHF DF systems, which are normally included as an element in VTS systems, may be utilized for anti-piracy purposes, with respect to their capability in establishing the position of a ship under attack which has not been able to transmit position information or which has transmitted wrong position information.

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The INMARSAT Coast Earth Station in Singapore operates into the Pacific Ocean satellite and does not, therefore, cover all of the Malacca/Singapore Strait area. Messages from ships in the area using the INMARSAT system will therefore normally be received in a country far away; e.g. in Europe. Experience has shown that communication between European RCCs and certain RCCs in the Malacca/Singapore Strait area has occasionally been problematic.

46 The Malacca/Singapore Strait area is fully covered by the NAVTEX transmission station in Singapore. This system seems very suitable for rapid and reliable transmission and reception of piracy attack warnings, as well as for other types of warnings. However, there seems to be a need for IMO to consider priority and "subject indicators" for piracy attack warnings in the NAVTEX system.

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