Malaysian Marine Police News

Asian countries need to join forces to combat the piracy that makes the region's sea lanes the most dangerous in the world. Pirate booty these days include cargoes of oil worth millions of dollars rather than the treasure chests of earlier centuries, but today's buccaneers can still be cut-throat murderers. Incidents of piracy have increase 50 percent worldwide in the past year, and around half the attacks and hijackings occur in Southeast Asia. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelego state, was singled out as the country with the biggest problem at the meeting of 20 nations in Kuala Lumpur. There were over 100 acts of piracy in Indonesian waters alone last year. "We are very concerned about Indonesia, extremely concerned," P.K.

Star Cruises officers and crew are trained for any eventuality that may arise at sea, with various safety and emergency drills being regularly conducted onboard its fleet of ships. These efforts were recently put to the test when a Star Cruises ship, the Wasa Queen based in Hong Kong, was involved in the rescue of crew members of a sunken fishing boat. The rescue which occurred between midnight and the early hours of the morning began with a request by the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (“MRCC”) for the Wasa Queen, which was in the vicinity of the sinking vessel to assist in the search for six crew members presumed missing.