Facing up to the pirates

HONGKONG and its rival Singapore both have too much to lose as the world's largest container ports to watch from the sidelines as pirates rob and murder at will in the shipping lanes of Southeast Asia. It is as extraordinary as it is outrageous that in the final decade of the 20th century modern, well-equipped vessels still have to travel in fear like old sailing ships on constant watch for cut-throats. No less than 69 per cent of piracy world-wide takes place in the waters around Hongkong, the Straitsof Malacca and the Java Sea.

This week alone, a Chinese freighter was attacked by pirates to the south of Hainan Island, and in the most serious incident so far this year, a Filipino seaman was shot by suspected pirates about seven miles off Waglan Island on Monday, just outside Hongkong waters.

The Marine Department alert to shipping to travel at full speed and be prepared to fight off pirates with water hoses is a good start, but will rightly be seen as feeble if it is not backed up by more far-reaching action. The International Maritime Bureau is sending a fact-finding mission to Southeast Asia early next month. Hongkong should be prepared with a detailed proposal of how it plans to deal with this menace.

Luckily, the territory is in a position to be of help far beyond its own waters. The Royal Hongkong Auxiliary Air Force's successful deterrence of a potential pirate attack in the South China Sea, 90 miles to the south of Hainan, shows the range and effectiveness of the territory's air-sea rescue operations. The crews and equipment are available to conduct regular patrols.

Responsibility for policing the South China Sea should be shared, however, with the authorities in Vietnam, China, the Philippines and Malaysia. That kind of co-operation would require real determination on the part of Hongkong's neighbours to stamp outpiracy. Allegations that members of the security forces in some of those countries have been involved in attacks on ships, or are turning a blind eye to them, must be investigated. Without that willingness to confront the facts, the threat to the safety ofships and seamen in the region will go on.