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From: R.A. Hettinga (no email)
Date: Fri Apr 08 2005 - 04:05:44 EDT
Yahoo!
Armed escorts for hire on pirate-infested Southeast Asian waters
Thu Apr 7,11:55 PM ET
SINGAPORE, (AFP) - A private security firm employing former members of
elite military units has begun providing armed escorts to ships plying some
of Asia's most pirate-infested waters, a media report said.
AFP/File Photo
Singapore-based Background Asia Risk Solutions has its own armour-plated
vessel that accompanies boats anywhere between Sri Lanka and the South
China Sea for about 50,000 US dollars a mission, the Straits Times said.
The company employs 60 former members of crack military units from
Singapore and elsewhere, who carry out their escort missions armed with
M-16 and M-4 assault rifles, according to the Straits Times.
The paper, quoting managing director Alex Duperouzel, said the firm was
set up nine months ago and had already had 12 jobs this year guarding oil
rigs and tankers against pirate attacks.
Duperouzel, a former fraud investigator from Australia, said the firm's
boat had yet to engage in any combat with pirates, although it had warned
off several suspicious vessels by using loud hailers, flares and spotlights.
"When boats see we have well-disciplined, well-equipped teams, they
usually move on and leave us alone," he said.
However Duperouzel said his employees would not hesitate to use their
artillery if necessary.
"Just like a cop who has to defend his own life, our men will not shoot to
kill. It's a series of escalating events," he said.
"If we can take out an engine, we'll do so. We'll also go for the knees.
But if we're forced to engage, we'll engage to win."
The narrow 960-kilometre-long (600-mile) Malacca Strait, bordered by
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, is one of the world's busiest shipping
lanes but is also full of pirates who brazenly carry out attacks.
The Malacca Strait is used by about 50,000 ships a year carrying a third
of world trade and half its oil supplies, and the attacks have led to
concerns the waterway and adjoining Singapore Strait are also vulnerable to
terrorists.
Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia last year began coordinated patrols in
the Malacca Strait.
But with a recent increase in attacks, Malaysia has announced it will
place armed police officers on board tugboats and barges plying the
waterway.
There have been at least five pirate attacks on ships in the straits over
the past six weeks.
In the latest incident on Tuesday, pirates aboard seven small fishing
boats attempted to board a 150,000-tonne, Japanese-owned crude oil tanker
but were foiled when the captain of the vessel took evasive measures and
increased speed.
Duperouzel and the co-founder of Background Asia Risk Solutions, Bryan
Toki, were overseas drumming up business on Friday and unable to
immediately comment when AFP contacted their office.
-- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: > The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/6iY7fA/5WnJAA/Y3ZIAA/A1TolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-cruising/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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