Risk of piracy falls, but terrorist threat to supply chains remains
published: cw 25, 2007 in Emerging markets & outsourcingThe impact of piracy on deep sea shipping has been addressed at a recent conference taking place in Kuala Lumpur. It seems that over the past few years levels of piracy have diminished substantially in the key waterway of the Malacca Straits, although spiralling elsewhere, especially in Africa. Already this year there have been recorded 17 actual or attempted attacks in Nigerian waters, with 40 seafarers taken hostage and Somalia, on the Horn of Africa, has become a ‘no-go’ area.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) states that the dramatic reduction in attacks in the Malacca Straits was the result of firm action taken by Malaysia and the neighbouring states. This was due to multi-jurisdictional measures, such as coordinated patrols and ‘eye-in-the-sky’ programmes. 10 radar systems have been supplied by the US to Indonesia to improve security.
However Malaysian authorities are still warning of the possibilities of terrorist attacks in the region. The Straits carry 40% of the world’s trade and there are particular concerns over the implications of hijacking gas tankers which could be turned into ‘floating bombs’.
The risk to the world’s supply chains should not be underestimated. Although most countries’ administrations are focused on domestic security issues, very little seems to have been done to prepare for the wholesale disruption of international trade. Initiatives such as the US has taken to ensure container integrity are only really designed to prevent the importation of weapons of mass destruction, such as a ‘dirty bomb’. The implications for the world’s economy of a major terrorist incident in any of the key shipping ‘bottlenecks’ seems to have been missed.
Source: Transport Intelligence
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