Pirate attacks

Press, 7 September 1981, Page 8

Pirate attacks

NZPA-Reuter Singapore The Singapore police said yesterday that they had appealed to Interpol for help after a wave of pirate attacks oh tankers in a narrow strait south-west of the country. They said at least three tankers and a container-ship had been held up in the Phillip Channel between Singapore and Indonesia by pirates in speedboats and robbed of money and valuables at knifepoint in the last six weeks. No casualties were reported. The General Council of British Shippers in London has sought the help of the Singapore Government to take action against the pirates. The latest attack was on Tuesday night when pirates, armed with pistols and parangs (long knives), boarded. the 90,900-tonne tanker Mammoth Monarch, chartered by Shell. Shipowners and oil companies said tankers, which usually sail at 12 and 15 knots along the Phillip-Chan-nel. appeared to be the favourite targets of the pirates, who used, grappling irons to board the moving ships. They have warned their vessels to vigilance. The stdrns of their tankers would be well-lit and the crew would, be asked to use ■ hoses ’ against pirates trying to board them. Some shipowners are reported to have put armed guards aboard their vessels.