‘World Navies should follow Indian Navy’s example’

He praised the Indian Naval Ship Tabar’s attack on the pirate’s mother ship in the Gulf of Aden and said other navies should follow Indian Navy’s example.

Malaysia has also commended the Indian Navy’s action.

Foreign Minister Rais Yatim told the ongoing APEC meeting in Lima that the forum should get all nations to quickly enforce the recent UN Security Council Resolution 1816 to combat piracy in international waters as it would make global trade safer.

“It is imperative and timely for all APEC member economies to consider measures to address the issue of piracy in international waters in an effective manner,” Rais said, adding that Malaysia was ready to work with other countries which shared the same predicament in the region.

“We can use UN Resolution 1816 as the basis to work together to ensure human security and secure trade,” he said.

“These piracy activities have not only disrupted the free flow of trade but have also endangered the lives of crew members on board. The scourge of terrorism and international waters piracy has taken its toll on states, with several APEC economies, including Malaysia, having become victims to acts of piracy thousands of miles away from our shores.

“Malaysia’s success in ensuring the safety of the Straits of Malacca jointly with Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore shows that we are able to overcome piracy,” Rais said.

Choong, said that it would be difficult for other Navies to detain pirates due to the prevailing law of the land, but searching boats for weapons can be a first step towards tackling the menace which is engulfing the Gulf of Aden.

“As long as there is no firm deterrent, piracy will continue in the African waters,” Choon said, adding the involvement of the international community and bodies like the United Nations was needed to help stamp out sea piracy.

“There must be a way to stop the armed marauders from hijacking vessels with cargo and crew, political will is required to urgently stop this,” Choong said.

Armed Somali pirates hijacked a Hong Kong registered cargo vessel late last week which had crew from India and some other countries.

Pirates hijacked the Delight, a Hong Kong-registered 43,000 dead weight tonne cargo vessel bound for Iran. They also seized a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew on board.

Referring to the Malacca Straits which too has witnessed piracy attacks reportedly by Indonesian pirates some time back, Choong said the Gulf of Aden area and Malacca Straits could not be compared.

“They are totally different. There is a strong patrolling by all the countries in the area in the Straits each of which have a government, Navy and police,” Choong said, adding that in the case of Somalia there were only the warlords and no powerful government.