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SCMP Reporter

Pirates in Indonesia have shot dead four crew members of a cargo ship after holding them for ransom for a month in the latest of a spate of violent attacks in the world's most pirate-infested seas.

Police say the four men  on a vessel carrying palm oil off the coast of Sumatra were killed    after the cargo company refused to pay a  400 million rupiah (HK$366,500) ransom.

The bodies of the men  were discovered this week by residents of Peureulak, a coastal town in Aceh, which is on the northern tip of Sumatra and adjacent to the Malacca Straits.

One of the nine surviving hostages said a group of gunmen boarded the  ship on January 5 as it sailed from Acehnese waters towards Belawan Port in north Sumatra with 13 crew.

Despite the ransom being reduced to 100 million rupiah, the company refused to pay.

The gunmen killed the four men  before the rest leapt overboard, Mr Juber told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesian waters and the Malacca Straits, between peninsula Malaysia and Sumatra, have become two of the most dangerous areas for piracy, according to the latest report from the International Maritime Bureau.

About 360 mariners were taken hostage worldwide last year,  151 in and around Indonesia, as pirates  increasingly turn to ransom  to fund what are often political agendas.

At least 92 mariners were killed or remain missing,  22 of whom were in  Indonesian waters.

The bureau recorded 18 attacks against Hong Kong-owned or managed vessels.

The Indonesian navy said the rising number of attacks, particularly off the coast of Sumatra, could be due to the long-running guerilla war in Aceh.

The Free Aceh Movement has been intermittently fighting the Indonesian military since 1977. Last year the military launched a massive offensive in an attempt to wipe out the rebel movement.

'There may be some GAM members involved in these attacks,' naval spokesman Admiral Laksamana Franky said.

The maritime bureau suspects many of the pirate attacks  have been carried out by Acehnese guerillas.

In one case reported to the board, a Malaysian registered oil tanker was attacked by armed men dressed in military fatigues riding a fishing boat.

The pirates told crew members they were Acehnese soldiers.

The potential for highly volatile cargo to be used as a floating bomb against critical infrastructure such as oil refineries has sparked concerns terrorists could resort to piracy.



Pirates kill four after ransom not paid