8 A preliminary report on the above activities was submitted to MSC 70 (7 to 11 December 1998), when the Committee expressed appreciation to the Governments of Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines for receiving the missions of experts to their counties.
9 At that session of the MSC, the delegation of Indonesia expressed appreciation for the IMO mission of experts, which, during its meeting with all national entities involved, had been able to obtain first hand information on measures taken. A major problem was that not all ships immediately reported incidents to the coastal State and the Committee was requested to consider urging shipmasters to report promptly.
10 Also at MSC 70 the delegation of Malaysia informed the Committee of its operational co-operation with Indonesia and Singapore in the Malacca Strait, which it believed had led to a decrease in incidents, and expressed appreciation for the planned regional seminar in Singapore.
11 MSC 70 was further informed that the United Nations General Assembly, through resolution A/RES/53/32, entitled "Oceans and the law of the sea", adopted on 24 November 1998, expressed concern at the increasing threat to shipping from piracy and armed robbery at sea and appreciation and support for the ongoing work of IMO in this area; and:
.1 urged all States, in particular coastal States in affected regions, to take all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent and combat incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea and to investigate or co-operate in the investigation of such incidents wherever they occur and bring the alleged perpetrators to justice, in accordance with international law; and
.2 called upon States to co-operate fully with the International Maritime Organization to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships, including by submitting reports on incidents to that Organization.
THE SINGAPORE REGIONAL SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP
12 The regional seminar and workshop for countries in the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore was convened in Singapore from 3 to 5 February 1999 in co-operation with the Government of Singapore and with financial support provided by the Governments and organizations referred to in paragraph 7 above.
13 Nine counties and two associate members in the region were invited and all participated. In addition, observers from another five countries attended the meeting. The list of participants, observers and lecturers is contained in annex 1.
