Piracy and armed robbery along Bangladesh's coasts, especially near sea and river ports, have doubled, raising the number of incidents to 11 in 2014 from six in 2013, officials said.
The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) has expressed its concern over the rise of incidents and urged Bangladesh to take steps to combat it, they added.
"The ReCAAP ISC urges the authorities to step up enforcement at Chittagong anchorages, and the masters to exercise vigilance and report all incidents to the authorities," the regional body said in its annual report.
According to the report, of 11 incidents which occurred during the January-September period of 2014, eight occurred at Chittagong anchorages.
"In most cases, the robbers boarded the vessels in groups of 5-10, except in some cases when the robbers approached in a relatively larger group of 30 which happened in the incident involving Malta-registered bulk carrier Loyalty," the report mentioned.
It also said eight out of 11 incidents involved robbers carrying knives but in most cases, they were not violent except in the incident involving Singapore-registered LPG tanker Gas Batam where the robbers assaulted the duty watchman on deck by throwing stones at him.
Sources said in line with the concern of the ReCAAP ISC, the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) on Tuesday asked the Department of Shipping (DoS) and the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) to take cautionary measures to combat robbery in the Bangladesh coasts and in the ports.
In a letter, the MoS asked the DoS to submit a report within 15 days to the ministry outlining the reasons behind the rise in robbery incidents, the steps taken to combat those and whether proper coordination is taking place among the organisations to fight piracy.
Besides, the letter also asked the DoS to take precautionary measures keeping into consideration the possibility of oil siphonage in the sea routes.
In another letter, the MoS asked the CPA to submit a report within ten days explaining the reasons behind the rise in incidence of robbery and steps taken to fight the menace.
When contacted, DoS director general Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan, could not give details about rising piracy and robbery incidents.
However, a senior official of the DoS said neighbouring India has 7,516 kilometres of coastline and 12 major ports and 200 non-major ports. In 2014, only nine incidents took place there.
"Bangladesh's coastline is very small considering the Indian one. It has only two seaports in operation. The number of incidents that occurred in 2014, compared to India, is a matter of concern and deserves proper attention," he added.
syful-islam@outlook.com
Piracy along national coast doubled in 2014
Syful Islam | Published: January 10, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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