MARITIME SAFETY COMMITTEE
71st session
Agenda item 15
MSC 71/15/5
19 March 1999
Original: ENGLISH
PIRACY AND ARMED ROBBERY AGAINST SHIPS
Report of serious incidents
Submitted by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
SUMMARY
Executive summary: This document contains reports of three violent incidents of piracy in 1998. There is a growing trend in violence and in some cases murdering of the innocent seamen. The document also highlights the urgent need for the law enforcement to treat piracy as a serious offence and prosecute the pirates
Action to be taken: Paragraph 5
Related documents: MSC 71/15
1 During 1998, the Piracy Reporting Centre of the ICC International Maritime Bureau has received 15 reports of vessels being hijacked by pirates. These attacks are getting more violent including murder of the innocent crew members.
2 The case of the Petro Ranger is representative of these hijackings. What makes this case important is that although the alleged pirates, the ship and her cargo were found intact, the pirates were not prosecuted and repatriated to their home country.
.1 M.V. Petro Ranger sailed from Singapore on 16 April 1998 with a cargo of gas oil and kerosene. Nine hours later, she was boarded by 12 armed pirates. The crew were forced to sail the vessel to Hainan island in China. The 22 crew members under control of the pirates were threatened with death and remained locked in the mess room for ten days.
.2 The local authorities alleged that the vessel was engaged in smuggling operations. They detained and questioned the crew for over two weeks, seized the vessel and confiscated the cargo. They questioned the 12 alleged pirates who were carrying Indonesian travel documents. However, on 15 October 1998, despite indisputable evidence, the 12 pirates who had committed a serious offence of hijacking of the vessel and an attempt to illegally sell the cargo, were sent back to Indonesia without being prosecuted.
.3 It is submitted that piracy cannot be resolved in this way. This incident will encourage the pirates to carry on, knowing that in some jurisdictions they can extricate themselves out of difficult situations.
