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The tsunami that erased dozens of coastal communities in Aceh, Indonesia, killing more than 228,000 people in the country, may have taken a toll on another group that has dogged security officials in the region for years.
The gigantic wave could also have wiped out a band of pirates who prey on ships travelling through the Malacca Strait, according to a Malaysian agency that tracks attacks on global shipping.
"Since December 26 tsunami we have not recorded a single attack on shipping in the Malacca Strait," says Noel Choong, of the International Maritime Board (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"One reason may be that the physical assets they (pirates) use, the boats and the weapons, were destroyed in the tsunami and of course the other possibility is that they themselves may have died. It's a big question-mark and we're watching the situation closely."
More than 100,000 ships annually travel the narrow, 1,000km-long waterway which separates the Malaysian peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, carrying roughly half of the world's oil supplies and a third of its cargo. Aceh is located at the northern tip of Sumatra.
Based on intelligence gathered by the United States, Singapore last year warned that the lack of security in the Strait made it a ripe target for al-Qaeda. Security officials suggested terrorists might crash a hijacked tanker into Singapore's port, shutting one of the busiest container terminals on earth.
They pointed to a specific incident in late 2003 during which a large vessel was boarded and piloted for several hours by a group of men who stole nothing from the crew and disappeared into the night, as a possible training-run for a future attack.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore formed highly-publicised joint patrols in the Malacca Straits, sharing radio frequencies and approving the pursuit of pirates in their neighbour's territorial waters.
But the patrols had no effect on piracy, Choong said.
The IMB, a branch of the International Chamber of Commerce, reported 121 of the 445 attacks on commercial shipping in 2003 occurred in Indonesian waters, a 20 per cent increase over the previous year. Twenty-one seamen died, more than 350 were taken hostage and 70 remain missing.
Roughly 70 cases of piracy were reported in the Strait during the first nine months of 2004. The end of the year saw a sharp rise in cases but the IMB will not release year-end figures for at least two more weeks.
Indonesian authorities blamed the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with whom peace talks will begin this week in Helsinki, for the incidents of piracy. Choong says that while it might once have been the case, evidence collected from crew members kidnapped for ransom indicated a criminal syndicate has been primarily responsible.
"In the beginning, about five years ago, it was GAM, but in 2003 there were signs that it wasn't GAM doing it but organised criminal gangs," he said.
