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Crime
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2007-02-03 21:54:12-05
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Japan, Malaysia and Thailand stage maiden piracy drill
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Bangkok, Feb 4: Coast guard officials from Japan, Malaysia and Thailand on Friday staged their first joint exercise to fight piracy in the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways and key to Asian trade. The three-hour drill in calm waters between Thailand's island of Phuket and Malaysia's Langkawi island began with "pirates" hijacking a Japanese supertanker and kidnapping some of its crew. Malaysia's police commandos later stormed the tanker before arresting the "kidnappers". A Japanese patrol boat stood in for a ship attacked by pirates in the Malacca Strait as the Coast Guard joined police from Thailand and Malaysia in a drill. The marine exercise was a first in the strait, where piracy disrupted shipping during the past few years, the Japanese television network NHK reported. Nobuharu Kagami, head of the Coast Guard's Piracy Countermeasures Office, said international cooperation is needed to stop attacks that take place on the high seas. About one-third of the pirate attacks reported worldwide take place in the Malacca Strait. Japan has been concerned about the strait since a tugboat was attacked in 2005. During Friday's drill, Thai and Malaysian patrol boats and helicopters pursued the patrol boat Yashima for three hours. It was finally retaken by a Malaysian boarding party.
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