18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
there are terrorists all too willing to
blow themselves up. Pirates have com-
mitted ruthless crimes for relatively
small gain. One can assume they would
commit more heinous acts for a well-
funded terrorist "customer."
Consider the devastating environmen-
tal impact if terrorists blew up a large oil
or gas carrying ship, especially in a
choke point. The economic ramifica-
tions are just as bad.
"It is quite clear that any serious dis-
ruption to the flow of maritime traffic
through this channel would have a wide-
spread and far-reaching detrimental
effect, presenting ships with a detour of
around 600 miles and, without doubt,
higher freight rates and costlier goods
and commodities as a result. That is
why the preservation of its integrity is
such an important issue," reports the
International Maritime Organization
(IMO), the United Nations specialized
agency with responsibility for the safety
of shipping and the prevention of marine
pollution by ships.
Jolly Roger With an Uzi: The Rise and
Threat of Modern Piracy (Naval
Institute Press) by attorneys Jack
Gottschalk and Brian Flanagan, present
case studies that show that most report-
ed pirate assaults occur in the waters off
Indonesia, Brazil, and Somalia, and in
the South China Sea, but, the authors
say, no location is entirely safe. The
authors say that modern-day pirates are
motivated by greed and are not neces-
sarily part of a larger organized crime
group. Pirates, they claim, are well
equipped with high-powered automatic
weapons and high-speed boats. Attacks
are usually well planned, and they often
have intelligence gathered from well-
placed informants. The costs in terms of
both economic loss and seafarers' deaths
and injuries are enormous.
"As the risk of security as well as its
importance grew, Japan and China has
long been looking for ways to detour the
Strait of Malacca," according to the
Korean news website, Donga.com.
"This means creating an 'Asian Panama
Canal' in Kra, the southern part of
Thailand. The construction of the Kra
Canal, as short as 100 km, can reduce
the travel route by 1,200 km and two to
five days of travel time."
As appealing as that canal may be, it
would be a very expensive and time-
consuming project, leaving us vulnera-
ble to the Malacca choke point for many
years to come. And such a canal would
be a new choke point, vulnerable to ter-
rorism or piracy, as well.
Partners against piracy
Terrorists have already proven their
willingness to attack from the sea.
"Al Qaeda and other extremists are the
primary enemy in the region, he said,"
said U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Patrick M.
Walsh, commander of combined mar-
itime forces in the region. Walsh holds
the titles of Commander, U.S. Naval
Forces Central Command; Commander,
U.S. 5th Fleet. "They attacked the
motor vessel Limburg in 2002; they tar-
geted economic infrastructure with
attacks on oil platforms in 2004; and
they attacked the USS Cole in 2000."
A collation of naval partners have cre-
ated a task force to patrol the waterways
of the Middle East from the Gulf of
Oman to the southern border of Kenya
and includes the Red Sea. Called Task
Force 150, its operating area extends out
to Pakistan's border with India, and
includes ships from 15 to 17 nations,
and support from other nations. It
recently came under the command of
Pakistani Rear Adm. Shahid Iqbal, who
relieved Dutch Commodore Hank Ort.
Such partnerships are an objective of
U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral
Eye on the Navy
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