Piracy on the rise, say mariners

LONDON - Violence, kidnap and murder on the high seas spiralled further out of control last year, says a global maritime organisation.

Today's pirates are well-orchestrated teams of hired mercenaries who will often murder an entire ship's crew rather than risk leaving witnesses.

"The figures showed an increased use of violence during attacks, particularly the rising number of instances where firearms were used instead of knives," the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in its 2001 report.

Slayings at sea increased to at least 21, six more than last year, the IMB said.

The yachting world was shaken in December when masked attackers shot dead legendary New Zealand yachtsman Sir Peter Blake. Blake was gunned down when his rifle jammed as he defended his research vessel Seamaster at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Following another macabre attack in August, a Canadian yachtsman drifted for two days, incapacitated by two severe wounds to his neck. He was only rescued when his yacht ran aground off Mexico.

Hijackings doubled to 16, with Indonesia's Aceh province emerging as a major new black spot, the IMB said.

"During the year, a new trend in piracy emerged in the northern part of the Malacca Straits... kidnap and ransom," the report said.

In one day in June, Indonesian naval forces were storming one hijacked Singaporean tanker, the Selayang, while just along the coast a different gang of pirates was kidnapping the crew of another, the Tirta Niaga.

- REUTERS

nzherald.co.nz/marine

Peter Blake, 1948-2001