Before it was in the areas of Somalia and Africa where sea piracy is booming, but the seas of Asia is now a breeding ground for small time piracy activities. So why Asia? And why now? Compared to their Somali counterparts, the pirates of Southern Asia rarely resort to seizing hostages. Instead, they steal cargoes of liquid fuel and they are highly organized criminal organizations that gather intel, plan coordinated attacks, and operate in discreet teams.
Pirates in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore Strait prefer tactics that deviate from the chasing, seizing and kidnapping modus utilized by Somali pirates on their targets. South Asia maritime bandits operate in stealth and cash in by selling what they steal, not by ransoming hostages. They target small cargo ships carrying scrap metal and small tankers transporting liquid fuel and petroleum products because these cargoes are difficult to trace on the black market. The crowded waterways of South Asia also make it easier for pirates to camouflage themselves within the hundreds of tankers and cargo ships in the area long before the authorities can make their move.
These heists require a lot of intelligence on what a ship is hauling, its location and destination, and the security details of the ship and its crew. Pirate groups obtain these from a variety of sources — crooked seafarers or their family members, corrupt port workers, government and military sources. All these bear the marks of an organized crime. A big tell according to industry experts and government agencies is that an increasing number of attacks in Asia involve commandeering vessels and stealing whole cargoes, especially liquid fuel instead of just simple theft of whatever the ships contain. Liquid fuel prices are very appealing to organized crime (marine gas oil go for $900 per metric ton in the open market). South Asian piracy makes a lot of business sense. About 130,000 vessels arrive in Singapore each year. Majority of these vessels make it to their destination without any hitch but the number of attacks is rising steadily. There were 125 pirate attacks reported in the region in 2013, triple the number from 2009 according to CNBC.COM
A challenge in trying to curb piracy in the region is the sheer number of governments and other groups trying to solve the problem, often with little to no cooperation. There is a need for nations to convene in a maritime security conference to discuss how to better combat this growing threat. In the status quo, it is quite obvious that more governments involved in anti-piracy efforts does not equate to better law enforcement. A maritime conference will enable countries to address the multinational nature of shipping which makes it more difficult to determine which government should take lead the investigation in the event of an attack in international waters. The trouble is often answering the question “who will take ownership?”Whoever does, all must agree that the booming piracy trade needs to be stopped before it spreads and destabilizes the region.