PIRACY WORSENS IN THE SINGAPORE STRAIT
Channel: A Singaporean
Date: 01/12/2020

PIRACY WORSENS IN THE SINGAPORE STRAIT

The situation

Piracy cases in the Singapore Strait have surpassed 2019's 4-year high of 31 cases, and hit 33 as of 20 November 2020. While the total number of incidents has risen, most were of a less violent nature as compared to 2019, with culprits often unarmed and crew members rarely injured.

This indicates that recent pirate attacks were more opportunistic, utilising hit-and-run tactics to steal or rob valuables, with most pirates fleeing when confronted by the crew. There were also less cases of hijackings.

Factors for the increase

Covid-19 has pushed many impoverished fishermen in the region to desperation, as lockdowns prevent transportation of fish for sale, and demand for fish also falls.

Most crew members of vessels passing through are also unable to switch out when returning home due to pandemic restrictions, leading many to be fatigued and less alert. 

Coronavirus restrictions also force ships to dock in anchorage areas for longer, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. Security agencies also tend to be more focused on enforcing pandemic measures on land, and have less resources left to spare for protecting ships.

And most importantly, all piracy cases thus far in 2020 have occurred in waters under Indonesian jurisdiction (near Batam and Bintan). This is likely due to the Indonesian Navy redeploying more naval assets from the Singapore strait to the South China Sea due to their territorial spat with China and Vietnam.

Flaws with current method

Tackling piracy is ironically mostly a land-based operation, as pirates must have a headquarters and contacts on land to spring attacks from. Although Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia all collaboratively patrol their respective territorial waters, very few arrests of culprits are actually made. Deterrence would only work properly if law enforcement in the region were more competent.

There is also no "hot pursuit" law, where the respective coast guards of each country are permitted to chase pirates across national borders. This is because our 3 nations cannot form a consensus on how far the pursuit can go and which country is in charge of prosecuting the pirates, as it is a matter of national sovereignty and is hence sensitive.

Models to follow

Sri Lanka has not experienced any piracy off its coast as all coastal towns have police stations every 5km in the west and south, harbours have Fisheries Department officials stationed there, and the navy and coast guard patrols close to shore.

In addition, the Gulf of Aden is patrolled by a multinational counter-piracy task force, where all vessels regardless of nationality elect a commander to direct anti-piracy efforts. This would likely not work in this region as all three nations would not agree to deploying their vessels under another country's Singaporean, Malaysian or Indonesian commander. Unless this is resolved, there can be no unified response and piracy will still continue to infest these waters.