§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will give the locations of each attempted maritime hijack which occurred for the last year for which figures are available, giving in each case(a) the flag flown, (b) the location of the incident, (c) the material carried and (d) the outcome of the hijacking attempt. [90727]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonAccording to the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau statistics, there were six recorded incidents of hijack for the period 1 May 1998 to 30 April 1999, as follows
18 May 1998—A Malaysian flagged fishing boat was hijacked in the Malacca Strait. A ransom was paid for release of crew;5 August 1998—A Belize flagged general cargo vessel was hijacked off Indonesia; it is still missing with some crew;27 September 1999—A general cargo vessel, flag unknown, was hijacked off Somalia; it is still missing with some crew;16 November 1998—A Panamanian flagged cargo of furnace slag was hijacked in the South China Sea; all 23 crew were shot dead and the seven pirates responsible subsequently arrested;December 1998—An oil tanker, flag unknown, was hijacked off Indonesia; the ship was arrested by authorities and prosecutions are expected;12 March 1999—A Belize flagged general cargo vessel was hijacked off Somalia; the vessel was taken to a Somali port by the hijackers. Nothing further is known.