SET up in September to combat the upsurge in pirate attacks, the Regional Piracy Centre of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) hardly looks the part - and there are those who say it is not.
It has not exactly been an unqualified success. Its hotline rarely rings, and when one major attack took place - an Indonesian cargo ship was raided and the pirates threw the 27 crew members overboard - the first the centre heard about the incident was when it read a report in the newspaper.
Ranged against this modest operation are hundreds, if not thousands, of Indonesians, Malaysians, Thais and other southeast Asians living in coastal villages adjacent to busy shipping lanes who supplement their meagre incomes with piracy.
Its major problem is dealing with the governments that matter. Singapore gives scant support and Indonesia has refused to acknowledge it.
This is a real handicap when, according to masters of plundered ships, the men behind the attacks are centrally- organised bands equipped with military-style weapons and information about maritime operations, which could only have come from official sources.
Some pirate leaders have been described as well-educated men who spoke excellent English, descriptions which do not tally with the uneducated rural people the Indonesian Navy says it has arrested for piracy. How, then can the Regional Piracy Centre hope to have any significant impact? IMB regional manager Mr Mazlan Abdul Samad was adamant it could make a difference if everyone co-operated.
''Once people know about the piracy centre, if they need information or have information they can contact us,'' he said.
