Singapore Navy Fighting Piracy in the High Seas

Singapore Navy Fighting Piracy in the High Seas

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The early days of September were not kind for the pirates of the Singapore Straits. According to a press release from Singapore’s Ministry of Defense, the country’s Maritime Security Task-Force (MSTF) successfully foiled a high-seas robbery on the Malaysian tugboat, the Permata 1, in the eastern approaches of the Singapore Straits.

On Tuesday morning (September 1), “the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Port Operations Control Centre received a report from Permata 1 that robbers had been sighted boarding their barge while transiting the eastern approaches of the Singapore Strait”, the report states. When the pirates noticed the approaching security vessels they fled to Indonesia’s territorial waters.  However, their fortunes turned from bad to worse, as the Indonesian navy managed to capture three of them, and to retrieve the stolen cargo.

The MTSF  escorted the Permata 1 to Singapore’s territorial waters, with assistance from the Indonesian Navy. The crew of the tugboat was unharmed.

Additional forces were deployed by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency to assist in capturing the remainder of the pirates. “”I am heartened to see the good cooperation between Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian enforcement agencies in disrupting the sea robbery attempt on Permata 1”, said Rear-Admiral Frederick Chew, Commander of the MSTF.

Piracy is an age old problem, and by now we are all familiar with their methods: hijacking a sea vessel in an attempt to steal its cargo – usually oil or gas. Frequently, however, pirates open fire towards their target ships, and crew members get hurt. We must find an appropriate solution to this problem, other than reporting to authorities after the fact, in order to minimize the risk posed to crew members and the precious cargo in the ships’ holds.

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