The robbers generally come alongside in fast speedboats under cover of darkness. They clamber aboard using grappling hooks as ships slow down to avoid accidents. Shipowners suspect that the pirates are based in the many islands that dot the Indonesian side of the Strait of Singapore. When there are no naval patrol boats around, pirates are bolder in robbing ships,'' said Noel Choong, regional manager at the International Maritime Bureau office in Kuala Lumpur. Mr. Choong said that the pirates, armed with guns and knives, take any cash and valuables they can find, often tying up crew members or locking them in cabins to give themselves time to escape.
Crew members are increasingly targets of attack.
The International Maritime Bureau said that all but one of the 67 people murdered at sea in 1998 were killed in Southeast Asia. Shipowners and port authorities worry that with pirate violence on the rise, it may only be a matter of time before an oil tanker or other large ship is left running without guidance because its crew has been killed, kidnapped or locked up. This is very much the area of concern.'' More than 600 vessels a day, many of them oil tankers and cargo ships, use the straits of Malacca and Singapore. Together, the straits are the main maritime link between the Indian and Pacific oceans, via the South China and Andaman seas. Singapore has expressed concern at the recent spate of sea robberies in the Strait of Singapore, but officials said they had already taken action with Indonesia to suppress the problem under a 1992 bilateral agreement that provides for coordinated anti-piracy patrols and hot pursuit of pirates into each other's territorial waters.