By IPS Correspondents
HONG KONG, Jun 27 1995 (IPS)

Fears of a new wave of piracy attacks in the South China Sea are growing in the wake of a week-end hijacking of the Panamanian-registered ‘Hye Micko’ while carrying a cargo of cigarettes to Cambodia.

Captain Elvis Manansan of the Singapore-based agents HM Shipping and Trading told reporters here this week that an aircraft hired by the company had spotted the ‘Hye Micko’ being escorted Sunday by what appeared to be a Chinese gunboat off the east coast of Vietnam.

It is now believed to be heading for Hong Kong or Chinese waters.

On Mar. 24, the ‘Hye Prosperity’, another ship carrying a cargo of cigarettes, was hijacked 100 km south of the same area and ended up in the south Chinese port of Shanwei,100 km east of Hong Kong. “This looks like the same thing,” Manansan said.

Several hijacks were reported a year ago, many of them pointing to involvement by China security forces.

In an official report submitted to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) last year, the Hong Kong government accused Chinese security authorities of attacks on commercial vessels plying the South China Sea.

This included an incident in which rifle-toting agents of China’s Border Patrol Bureau seized one million dollars worth of cigarettes from the Panamanian-registered ship ‘Alicia Star’ after the crew said they could not pay the 65,000 dollars demanded by the Chinese.

Shipping industry insiders say usually, vessels were forcibly escorted to port where their cargoes are offloaded and a ‘ransom’ extorted from shipowners for the release of their ships.

Commenting on the newest report of ‘piracy’, Hong Kong Shipowners Association director Michael Farlie said: “This seems to be a variation on the same theme.”

The South China Sea has always been a hotspot for piracy attacks. But in recent years attacks have become more brazen and ambitious.

From merely boarding a ship to rob the crew, pirates are now known to track ships carrying large supplies of consumer goods in short supply in China and diverting them to Chinese ports.

According to maritime experts, the interceptions are often carried out by naval ships or ships operated by crews claiming to be members of China’s security forces.

Other cases involved pirates disguised as naval officers, ‘rogue’ elements of the navy and legitimate officers overzealously going after suspected smugglers.

IMO Safety Committee chairman Admiral Efthimio Mitropolous last year said he was told by his Chinese hosts during a visit to Beijing that they had been “misrepresented”. Mitropolous added that he had “no reason not to believe” what the officials in Beijing had said.

But after a wave of attacks in early 1994, the situation seemed to be put under control for a while. Farlie said this was a combination of international attention in 1994 and Chinese authorities themselves cracking down on anti-smuggling patrols and imitators.

“It was brought home to the Chinese that for their own reputation they needed to be seen to be doing something about this, and they did,” Farlie said.

The resurgence of such attacks these days, however, has increased fears that Chinese officials are once again having difficulties preventing such activities.

In addition, international maritime experts say, the pirates are becoming more and more cunning.

Late last year, three vessels laden with a cargo of rubber disappeared and were tracked to ports in China. Thought to be conducted with the connivance of crooked customs officials, the cargo is ‘confiscated’. Under International law, it then becomes the property of the customs department.

Customs officials then pretend to ‘auction’ the cargo to a predetermined buyer taking a part of the proceeds for themselves and those who carried out the hijack, say maritime experts here.

In the case of the ‘Hye Prosperity’ hijacked in March, Manansan said the crew were forced by Chinese officials to sign documents saying they had been smuggling cigarettes to China before they and the ship were released — minus their consignment.

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