ICC launches weekly piracy
report on the Internet
Paris, 2
December 1999 - Ship
owners, cargo owners and insurance companies are to be given a valuable new
tool in the fight against piracy with the launch of a weekly piracy report on
the International Chamber of Commerce website. This report will be posted on
the Commercial Crime Services pages every Tuesday.
The regular reports will
contain details of the location and nature of attacks on shipping in the East
and South East Asian region, and will allow companies to put their ships' masters
on special alert when they are passing through waters in which recent piratical
attacks have been reported.
The reports, which are to
be compiled from daily status bulletins broadcast via satellite by the ICC International
Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, will appear on the
re-launched Commercial Crime Services section of the ICC website. The current
satellite broadcasts are not available to companies on land and are not always
picked up by ships at sea.
"Companies will now be able
to download these reports and telex them to their ships, warning them to be
on a greater level of alertness where necessary. The ships' masters can then
carry out certain procedures to protect their crews and cargoes," said Captain
P. K. Mukundan, Director of ICC Commercial Crime Services.
Such procedures could include
anti-piracy watches and the close monitoring of approaching small vessels. "As
a result of these reports, a company may also advise its ships in certain areas
to stay away from the coast where pirates are less likely to venture. For example,
we currently advise vessels off the coast of Somalia to stay at least 50 miles
out from land to avoid hijackings," said Capt. Mukundan.
With increasing concern
in recent years over the increase in number, violence and audacity of piratical
attacks, especially in the East and South East Asian region, Capt. Mukundan
said the daily satellite broadcasts by the Piracy Reporting Centre had already
gone some way towards tackling the problem. "The regular reports have increased
awareness of the problem and in some cases have resulted in governments allocating
greater resources to minimizing the incidence of piracy in their areas," he
said.
A quarterly report on piracy
is published by IMB, as is an annual report, "Piracy and Armed Robbery against
Ships".
Click
here for the latest weekly piracy report
IMB
Piracy reporting centre