Worries grow over tankers' vulnerability to attack
Date: 19-Apr-02
Country: JAPAN
Author: Miho Yoshikawa
Tatsuo Masuda, president of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre, told a seminar on sea security in Tokyo that the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East and Strait of Malacca in South East Asia, both heavily used by tankers, were main areas of concern.
Masuda said some 15.5 million barrels of oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, each day while about 10.3 million barrels were carried through the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The Stait of Malacca is already notorious for pirate attacks.
"LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas) tankers are attractive targets for terrorists...because the material is inflammable and would cause massive damage," said Yoshihiko Yamada of the non-profit Nippon Foundation.
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Virtually all ships destined for Asia carrying LNG and LPG pass through the Strait of Malacca and the issue of safety is likely to grow in importance as Asia's energy imports grow.
"Since (September 11) maritime security is of much concern," said Mathew Mathai, Singapore-based marine manager with the Japan Association of Marine Safety.
Data presented by Yoshiki Ogawa of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) showed that the number of oil tankers passing through the Strait of Malacca was expected to increase to 59 per day in 2010 from 45 in 2000.
The number of LPG tankers is expected to increase to seven per day in 2010 from five in 2000 while passages by LNG tankers are expected to rise to 12 per day from eight in 2000.
In the first quarter of 2001, over 40 percent of all piracy attacks occurred in the waters of Indonesia or Strait of Malacca, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
APERC, set up in 1996, conducts energy research of common interest to member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The two-day meeting is part of the APEC Energy Security Initiative endorsed by APEC leaders in their statement on counter-terrorism last October in Shanghai.
The results of the meeting will be reported to the APEC energy ministers meeting in Mexico City in July.