Malaysia vowed on Thursday to do its best to stamp out pirate attacks in the Malacca Strait and urged Indonesia to crack down on raiders in its own waters. Pirates have attacked three vessels in two weeks in one of the world's busiest sea lanes, alarming the shipping industry and spurring nations along the waterway to step up anti-piracy patrols.
Armed pirates boarded a Japanese tugboat on Monday and kidnapped three crew - two Japanese and a Filipino - just two days after an oil tanker was seized in another attack. No ransom demand for the captives has been reported.
Malaysia and Indonesia are holding co-ordinated patrols and sharing information to try and rein in pirates, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters, but attacks cannot be completely halted because of the long stretch of coast involved.
"If the pirates come from Indonesia it is up to the Indonesians to take action against them," Najib said, adding that he did not know if the pirates involved in Monday's attack were members of GAM, a separatist group in Indonesia's Aceh province.
"It doesn't matter whether they are Acehnese, or whoever they are, action must be taken against them."
Littoral states are responsible for the security of the Strait, Najib said in reply to a question whether the patrols were enough to allay the fears of the shipping industry.
"We'll do whatever we can, but the principle of sovereignty has to be respected," he said.
More than a quarter of global trade passes through the stretch of water separating Malaysia and Indonesia, including almost all the oil imports of Japan and China.
The International Maritime Bureau, which tracks attacks on shipping, said the upsurge of violence was a matter of concern.
"The abduction of crew members ... is a reprehensible act and should not be allowed to continue," it said in a statement this week.
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