Oceans of Crime IIAS/ISEAS Series on Maritime Issues and Piracy in Asia Series Advisory Board • Professor Alfred Soons • Vice-Admiral Mihir Roy Institute for the Law of the Sea, Society for Indian Ocean Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands Delhi, India • Professor Hasjim Djalal • Dr Peter Chalk Department of Maritime Affairs Rand Corporation, California, and Fisheries, United States Jakarta, Indonesia • Dr Stein Tönnesson • Professor Dr J.L. Blussé van Oud-Alblas International Peace Research Institute, Leiden University, Norway The Netherlands • Dr John Kleinen • Professor Togo Kazuhiko University of Amsterdam, Princeton University/IIAS The Netherlands • Professor Jean-Luc Domenach • Professor James Warren Sciences-Po, Paris, Italy/ Murdoch University, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Australia People’s Republic of China • Mr Tanner Campbell • Dr Mark Valencia Maritime Intelligence Group, Maritime Policy Expert, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, United States United States The IIAS/ISEAS Series on Maritime Issues and Policy in Asia is an initiative to catalyse research on the topic of piracy and robbery in the Asian seas. Considerable attention in the popular media has been directed to maritime piracy in recent years reflecting the fact/ perception that piracy is again a growing concern for coastal nations of the world. The epicentre of global pirate activity is the congested sea-lanes of Southeast Asia but attacks have been registered in wide-scattered regions of the world. The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a post-doctoral research centre based in Leiden and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. IIAS’ main objective is to encourage Asian studies in the humanities and social sciences — and their interaction with other sciences — by promoting national and international co-operation in these fields. IIAS publications reflect the broad scope of the Institute’s interests. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established in Singapore as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio- political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. ISEAS Publishing has issued over 2,000 scholarly books and journals since 1972. IIAS/ISEAS Series on Maritime Issues and Piracy in Asia Oceans of Crime Maritime Piracy and Transnational Security in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh Carolin Liss International Institute for Asian Studies Institute of Southeast Asian Studies The Netherlands Singapore First published in Singapore in 2011 by ISEAS Publishing Institute of Southeast Asian Studies 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Singapore 119614 E-mail: [email protected] Website: <http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg> All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. © 2011 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the author and her interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the publishers or their supporters. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Liss, Carolin. Oceans of crime : maritime piracy & transnational security in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh. 1. Pirates—Southeast Asia. 2. Maritime terrorism—Southeast Asia. 3. Pirates—Bangladesh. 4. Maritime terrorism—Bangladesh. I. Title. HV6431 A8L77 2011 ISBN 978-981-4279-46-8 (soft cover) ISBN 978-981-4279-43-7 (E-book PDF) Photo Credit Cover photo reproduced with kind permission of Karsten von Hoesslin. This book is meant for educational and learning purposes. The authors of the book have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the contents of the book do not violate any existing copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person in any manner whatsoever. In the event the authors have been unable to track any source and if any copyright has been inadvertently infringed, please notify the publisher in writing for corrective action. Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by In memory of my father, Helmut Liss CONTENTS Maps, Tables, and Photos xi List of Abbreviations xv Acknowledgements xvii Introduction 1 A Brief Historical Overview of Piracy in Southeast Asia 1 Contemporary Maritime Piracy — A Chimera? 6 The Significance of Piracy: The Objectives and Structure of this Study 9 Part I: Contemporary Piracy in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh 19 1. Pirate Attacks on Merchant Vessels in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, 1980–2006 21 Introduction 21 Piracy in Southeast Asia in the 1980s 22 Piracy in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh from the Early 1990s to 2006 23 Conclusion 45 2. Piracy and Fishers: Attacks on Small Craft in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh 55 Introduction 55 Attacks on and by Fishers since the Late 1970s 56 Attacks on Yachts and Fishing Vessels from 1990 to 2006 61 Conclusion 89 viii Contents Part II: The Sea 97 3. The Fishing Industry 99 Introduction 99 Fishing in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh 100 Fishers and/as Pirates 109 Beyond Piracy — Security Implications 118 Conclusion 125 4. Merchant Shipping 135 Introduction 135 International Regulatory Regimes 136 Exploitation of Security Weaknesses by Pirates 149 Beyond Piracy — Security Implications 157 Conclusion 161 Part III: The Dark Side 171 5. Organized Crime 173 Introduction 173 Organized Crime 174 Organized Crime and Piracy 183 Beyond Piracy — Security Implications 201 Conclusion 207 6. Terrorist and Guerrilla Movements 220 Introduction 220 Terrorists and Guerrillas 221 Terrorists and Guerrillas and/as Pirates 230 Beyond Piracy — Security Implications 244 Conclusion 251 Part IV: Counter-Forces 265 7. State Responses to Piracy 267 Introduction 267 States, Borders, and Militaries in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh 268 Contents ix Resources and Corruption — The Impact upon Piracy 275 Beyond Piracy — Security Implications 303 Conclusion 309 8. Privatizing the Fight against Piracy 321 Introduction 321 Privatization of Security 322 Privatizing the Fight against Piracy 328 Piracy and Beyond — Security Implications 331 Conclusion 347 Conclusion 359 Appendix 1 363 Appendix 2 366 Bibliography 369 Index 407 About the Author 426