Pirates in the Malacca Strait are using the tactics and weapons of Islamist militants, says the security report that prompted insurers to give the sea lane a war risk rating and boosted transport costs there. A copy of the report, prepared by London-based Aegis Defence Services for global insurers in July, was obtained by Reuters.
Its findings prompted the influential London-based Joint War Committee (JWC), which commissioned it, to add the strategic sea lane to a list of 21 high risk areas.
That decision drew strong criticism from the multi-billion dollar maritime industry and littoral states, who say the threat is overblown.
A meeting between the JWC, shipping associations, insurers and Aegis on Tuesday to discuss the move resulted in the committee promising to review the risk rating on a quarterly basis.
But the JWC said in a statement the area "would remain on the List until it was clear that the measures planned by the government and other agencies in the area had been implemented and were effective."
Comments
Comments are closed.