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HONG KONG was accused of shirking its international responsibilities yesterday after a freighter hijacked in the South China Sea was traced to the mainland port of Shanwei.

  The Royal Navy in Hong Kong made no attempt to intervene, despite sovereign powers having an international mandate to assist pirated vessels in international waters.

  The Panama-registered 1,055 gross-tonne Hye Mieko was hijacked, allegedly by a renegade Chinese gunboat, on Friday in the Gulf of Thailand en route from Singapore to Cambodia. It was spotted on Sunday by the ship's Singapore owner, William Tay, from a hired plane off the southern coast of Vietnam.

  The Security Branch said it had not ordered the Navy to assist because the hijacked freighter was not Hong Kong-registered, had no Hong Kong crew and was in international waters.

  'The Hong Kong Government is not in a position to intervene,' a statement said.

  But Eric Ellen, executive director of the independent International Maritime Bureau, said Hong Kong and any nation had a responsibility to assist ships in the hands of pirates.

  He said governments in the region had a policy of non-intervention because they were afraid of confrontations with China.

  'It is not outside [Hong Kong's] jurisdiction,' said Mr Ellen.

  'If [any Asian state] had acted properly they could have resolved this before the ship was taken to China. I can understand the sensitivities of navies who act through their central governments, but if this ship was not acting for the Chinese Government then it is an act of piracy and everyone has a duty to intercept it.'   Mr Ellen said China's denial of involvement meant Hong Kong should have classed the hijackers as pirates because the ship was either non-military or military acting outside its powers.

  A 1983 International Maritime Organisation resolution 'urges governments concerned to take, as a matter of highest priority, all measures necessary to prevent and suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery from ships in, or adjacent to, their waters'.

  Peter Dunn, director of general business in Asia for Eagle Star Insurance, which insured the Hye Mieko's $2 million cargo of cigarettes and photographic equipment, said action should have been taken by Hong Kong or another territory in the region.

  'The more we can remind governments of their responsibilities and bring pressure to bear on the authorities to act, both in their own and international waters, the better,' he said.

  A spokesman for the British Garrison in Hong Kong said the Navy did not intervene because of the problems in finding the vessels, and because they accepted witness reports that the hijackers appeared to be Chinese military.

  The Chinese Foreign Ministry said claims that the hijackers were mainland military were unjustified.

   Mr Tay said the Hye Mieko had arrived in Shanwei at 2 pm yesterday. He phoned his company, HM Shipping and Trading in Singapore, asking them to send a fax confirming the ship's arrival to the Chinese Embassy.

  The embassy has said it would help the company if it could be proved China was involved.

  Moises Cohen, an official at the Directorate of Consular and Maritime Affairs at the Panama Embassy in Singapore, said he would be prepared to fly to Shanwei to assist Mr Tay.



Territory 'shirked duty' over hijacking