Coast Guard bares new modus operandi of foreign pirates

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday disclosed a new modus operandi of pirates which involves seizing vessels plying international routes before selling these as renamed ships to unsuspecting buyers.

PCG commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the scheme was uncovered following the recent arrest of seven suspected Indonesian pirates in General Santos City.

Tamayo said pirates now resort to seizing the entire ship, citing at least two cases where foreign ships and their crew traveling along international waters were abducted by these sea outlaws and brought to Mindanao.

“In order to avoid detection, pirates would rename the tugboats or vessels," Tamayo said, adding that pirate attacks are usually carried out at night.

He explained that after defacing the name tags of the seized vessels, the pirates would sell it to prospective buyers, including those from the Philippines. These vessels are sold legally for about P20 million.

The first incident, according to Tamayo, involved the MT Asta seized by pirates on February 7 and renamed Roxy-1. The “new" ship was later found in Surigao del Norte.

On April 27, pirates likewise took hostage the Malaysian tugboat Atlantic 3 as it was towing the barge Atlantic 5. The tugboat, which was renamed Marlin VII, was later retrieved in General Santos City, resulting in the arrest of the seven Indonesians.

In all incidents, the pirates would eventually release the ships’ crew, who would then be allowed to board a life raft near the Spratly’s Islands.

Test case

The case involving the arrest of the Indonesians would thus serve as test case for piracy, according to Tamayo. “Before, we only filed armed robbery cases because pirates would only board vessels to take valuables and then leave the ships," he said.

Tamayo called for cooperation among neighboring countries in a bid to address sea piracy following the discovery of the new scheme.

“(Sea piracy) adversely affects our local shipbuilding industry. There is a need to establish closer monitoring and information sharing with neighboring Association of Southeast Asian Nations," he said.

He said they have stepped up efforts to gather information and are now drawing up measures to understand the pattern used in the modus operandi to counter the pirates’ illegal activities.

He likewise asked neighboring countries to report similar incidents in their respective countries to Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia-Information Sharing Center (RECAAP-ISC).

The Office of Transportation Security (OTS), Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine National Police-Maritime Group (PNP-Marig), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are working with the PCG to locally address the problem of piracy. - JA/KBK, GMANews.TV

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