The Japanese shipping industry has experienced three major incidents of piracy since 1999. These cases brought about wide-spread media attention, raising the Japanese public's interest about piracy and spot-lighting Japan's security interests in the region.

Despite the sudden public interest in piracy, however, the estimated cost of piracy on the Japanese shipping industry is only USD $5-10 million a year. In 2004, there were only 7 incidents of piracy on a Japanese ship.

Yet, the Japanese public and policymakers have undertaken piracy as a threat to Japan's comprehensive security, and have undertaken counter-measures to prevent piracy and to maintain freedom of navigation. In this context, piracy may seem like an insignificant problem to tackle, but as shown in the Implications section, there is a tremendous amount at stake if something does go wrong. As such, these cases have had a tremendous psychological impact on the Japanese.

The Alondra Rainbow was hijacked by an armed gang of pirates shortly after departure from Kuala Tanjong, while heading towards Miike, Japan. The 17-member crew was threatened and tied up, then transferred to another ship that came alongside the Alondra Rainbow. The crew was detained for a week on this ship, after which they were placed in a life raft and sent adrift where they were discovered by a Thai fishing boat ten days later.

On October 28, the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre was notified of the missing vessel, and started broadcasting a message to ships at sea to report any ship matching the description of Alondra Rainbow. Another alert was sent out to relevant authorities, ports, and law enforcement agencies in the region.

On November 14, The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre received information from a Kuwaiti tanker of a ship matching the profile of the Alondra Rainbow heading toward the Arabian sea. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre notified the Indian Coast Guard, who sent out a patrol aircraft that caught sight of a similar vessel.

This ship was called Mega Rama, and flying under the Belize flag. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre ran the name through its database, but found that no such ship was registered under the Belize flag. At this point, the Indian Coast Guard dispatched a patrol vessel, but the ship maintained radio silence and ignored warning shots. The chase was finally brought to a close when the Indian Coast Guard brought in a missile-carrying Corvette to capture the run-away vessel on November 16.

Half of Alondra Rainbow's cargo was recovered on board the ship.

Armed pirates boarded the Global Mars and tied and blindfolded the 17 crew members. The hostages were placed on a large fishing boat where they were provided with food and water for 13 days. They were then transported to a smaller fishing vessel on March 7 and abandoned at sea until encountering fisherman two days later. On March 10, the crew finally reached land where they were able to contact officials.

After the pirates hijacked Global Mars, the vessel was renamed Bulawan and sailed under the Honduran flag. The Honduran authorities could not find any registered vessel under that name, and notified the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre then notified Chinese authorities, at which point the Chinese Police Border Defense Bureau dispatched aircraft and patrol boats to search for the vessel.

On June 16, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre announced the discovery of Global Mars in Hong Kong waters. Bulawan turned out to be Global Mars, and the 20 crew members found on board were arrested. Over half of the cargo was already unloaded, with the remaining 2,500 tons still on board.

While towing a construction barge, the tugboat Idaten was approached by a fishing vessels around 6:30pm, just as the sky was getting dark. Armed pirates appeared and started shooting at the tugboat as the pirates started boarding Idaten.

According to witnesses on the boat, there were a total of ten pirates at the scene, all armed with an assortment of machine guns, rifles, and rocket launchers. The pirates abducted the Japanese captain and chief engineer, as well as another Filipino crew member, and escaped towards Indonesia in less than a ten-minute span.

The pirates were apparently not interested in either the cargo or valuables on board, and was boarding the ship solely for kidnapping and ransom purposes. After being abducted, the three crew members were brought around to different hiding places in Indonesia where they witnessed other pirates and abductees.

On March 20, the hostages were released on a passing fishing boat after successful negotiations with the Malaysia-based Japanese owners of the vessel.

"MT Global Mars Attack"
By Mark Bruyneel

"Supporting the Malacca Strait Troika: Indo-Japanese Approach to Counter Piracy",
Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, by Dr. Vijay Sakhuja

"Violence Resumes in Malacca Strait"
ICC International Maritime Bureau

"The Modern Piracy Problem:focusing on the Strait of Malacca" (my translation)
Nippon Foundation, by Yoshihiko Yamada

"The Piracy Threat to Japan"
The Japan Times

"Japan: Pirates and Force Projection in the Strait of Malacca"
Stratfor

"Japanese anti-piracy initiatives in Southeast Asia: policy formulation and the coastal state responses", Contemporary Southeast Asia, Dec 2004 v26 i3 p480(26)
by John F. Bradford.