SINGAPORE: Pirates armed with knives attacked five vessels in the Singapore Strait in the last few days.
The attacks were reported by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.
The incidents happened while the vessels were between Singapore and Batam, while others took place closer to Bintan, The New Paper said.
The Philippines has sounded the alarm recently about taking counteraction, with President Rodrigo Duterte ordering tougher moves against pirates.
“If they (Philippine Navy) are positive that they (suspects) are pirates, you blow them to kingdom come. You kill them all.”
Since 2017, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have been conducting naval patrols in the Sulu Sea to curb cross-border kidnapping-for-ransom incidents.
Patrols in the waters bordering the Southeast Asian countries were intensified in 2017 after authorities blamed Islamic State-linked rebels based in southern Philippines.
Duterte also recently discussed with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad the forming of a task group to hunt pirates operating in the waters bordering their countries.
“I said it’s high time that we formed a task force, not to intrude into waters of other countries, but just to patrol your waters incessantly and accurately,” Duterte told the Daily Express.
The piracy trend has seen a decrease. Last year, there were 76 incidents in Asia compared with 203 in 2015.
In the first nine months of this year, 54 incidents occurred in the region compared with 64 in the same period last year.
According to Policy Forum, attacks against ships at anchor have decreased, but recently, pirates concentrated on big ships on the move, far from harbour.
“Three incidents occurred in close proximity to each other within a period of 20 days on Sept 30, Oct 18, and Oct 19.
“All involved large vessels, probably proceeding at slow speed at night.
“This provided the opportunity for the perpetrators to scramble on board unnoticed.”
The incident on Oct 19 was of particular concern because the attackers were armed with a gun and knives, threatened a crew member, tied his hands and escaped with engine parts.
“Pirates often operate from bases onshore, usually in small fishing communities.
“It’s not unreasonable to assume that most of the community know what’s going on, and this includes local police and naval personnel, who may be complicit in the illegal activity.
“Low salaries for law enforcement personnel encourage such complicity,” said the portal.