OPENING CEREMONY
14 In opening the seminar and workshop on behalf of the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore, Colonel Lee Seng Kong, MPA's Director of Shipping, expressed Singapore's support for IMO's approach in tackling the serious problem of piracy and armed robbery against ships and said that Singapore was pleased to assist IMO in organizing and hosting the second in the series of regional seminars and workshops. The MPA hoped that the seminar and workshop would bring about a greater awareness of the seriousness of the problem among law enforcement agencies and maritime authorities so that greater efforts might be made to curb the menace.
Colonel Lee Seng Kong explained that piracy and sea robbery present a serious threat to the safety of life at sea and the marine environment and referred to what could happen if a Very Large Crude Carrier was attacked by pirates and left without a navigator while transiting busy waterways such as the Malacca and Singapore Straits. Not only could this result in a major ecological disaster to the detriment of the coastal States, it could also disrupt the passage through the important waterways.
Colonel Lee Seng Kong pointed out that, as a maritime nation with the world's busiest port and the world's eighth largest merchant fleet, Singapore has been active at the national, regional and international levels in its quest to fight piracy and armed robbery against ships. At the national level, the Police Coast Guard, as the lead agency, had been vigilant in its patrols of Singapore waters. The MPA also played a role by advising the shipping community to take precautionary measures, such as preparing anti-attack plan, enhanced surveillance, installing detection equipment and radio and alarm procedures, to reduce the risk of piratical and sea robbery attacks, and providing contact points in the event of piratical incident. He specified that these national efforts had been successful as there had not been a case of sea robbery in Singapore's waters since 1991. At the regional level, Colonel Lee Seng Kong explained that since 1992, the law enforcement agencies in Singapore and Indonesia had established an arrangement, known as the Indonesia-Singapore Co-ordinated Patrols Arrangement, to conduct co-ordinated patrols. Finally, he stressed that Singapore contributed towards international efforts by assisting IMO to organize the present seminar and workshop and subscribed to the need for co-operative efforts to address the problem of piracy and armed robbers against ships. He also mentioned that the urgency for co-operative efforts was further heightened by the current economic downturn and that this seminar which should promote a regional approach to the problem and discuss the development of co-operative agreements between neighbouring countries was indeed timely.
15 Speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr. W.A. O'Neil, Mr. E.O. Agbakoba, Head, Technical Co-operation Implementation and Project Management Section, Maritime Safety Division, thanked the countries and international organizations whose financial support had made it possible to convene the meeting. He thanked, in particular, the Government of Singapore for offering to host and for making available excellent facilities for the meeting. He gave the history of IMO's involvement in the subject of piracy and armed robbery against ships and briefly informed the meeting of the work carried out by the Organization over the years in this regard. He spoke of the recent trends in piracy and armed robbery against ships in different parts of the world and the series of consultations, which had taken place between IMO officials and the Embassies and High Commissions in London of a number of countries from where incidents were most frequently reported. These consultations had culminated in the present meeting. Mr. Agbakoba outlined the various programmes planned under a strategy agreed during the consultations to reduce piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide.
