Floating bomb threat fears 'exaggerated'

The risk of terrorists seizing ships for a September 11-style attack is exaggerated, a British security expert said today.

Richard Davey, a consultant for MI5, said ordinary piracy was a far greater threat to shipping than terrorist attacks.

“The fact that a scenario has been thought of does not mean it is a threat,” Davey said in a speech at a security conference organised by the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting of law enforcement officials, shipping executives and diplomats from 33 nations comes amid fears that terrorists could attack ships in the Straits of Malacca, a crucial waterway troubled by pirates.

One-third of the world’s trade and half its oil supplies pass through the narrow waterway between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia’s Sumatra island, bound for industrial powers like Japan, South Korea and China.

Feared scenarios include militants hijacking a vessel and sinking it to block shipping, blowing up a tanker in a populated area, or releasing biological or chemical agents on a cruise ship.

Security officials at the conference have said there’s no evidence that pirates have linked up with al-Qaida or its Southeast Asian ally, Jemaah Islamiyah.

But Malaysia’s marine police chief, Abdul Rahman Ahmad, told meeting delegates that the region could not rule out a terrorist-pirate alliance.

“It cannot be denied that there is a possibility of an international terrorist group hijacking a dangerous cargo vessel – such as liquefied natural gas or crude oil – and converting it into a floating bomb,” Abdul Rahman said.

Davey said that the “last significant terrorist attack on a ship” was the al-Qaida bombing two years ago of the French tanker Limburg near Yemen, killing a crewman and spilling 90,000 barrels of oil.

By contrast, there were 445 pirate attacks worldwide in 2003, most concentrated in a few spots like the Straits of Malacca.

Davey said that the new US-inspired anti-terror regulations – dubbed the International Ship and Port Facility Code – should address what he called “the less-than-overwhelming threat” of terrorism, though it may take months to sort out glitches in the system.

Under the treaty signed by about 150 nations, each ship must have a security officer, an alarm system, a method of identifying everyone on board and other precautions.

Each ship must also have a certificate, signed by the nation where it is registered, saying it complies with the treaty.

The US Coast Guard has said it will board every foreign-flagged vessel sailing into a US port to check for compliance.