Pirate abduction in Malacca Strait after long quiet

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur | Sat, 02/21/2009 7:54 PM  

Armed pirates kidnapped two crew members of a Singapore-managed tug and barge in the Malacca Strait, raising fears of renewed insecurity along the busy shipping route, a maritime watchdog said Saturday. 

It was the first abduction of seafarers after a long lull in kidnap-and-ransom cases that once afflicted the waterways between peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra island, Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center, said in Kuala Lumpur. 

About 12 pirates with guns boarded the vessel in the northern part of the strait Thursday and seized two senior crew members, Choong said. He declined to elaborate on their nationalities or whether a ransom has been demanded. 

"We hope this is not the start of more such pirate attacks," Choong said. 

The strait has long been notorious for robberies and hijackings, but the number of attacks abated when Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore launched coordinated maritime and air patrols in recent years to curb piracy. 

Only two pirate attacks were reported on the waterway last year, down from seven in 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau. However, it has said that other cases sometimes go unreported. 

Half the world's oil and more than a third of its commerce is carried by the 70,000 vessels the use the strait each year.