Maritime Piracy in Southeast Asia

Summary

Preface

In November 1998, while en route from Shanghai to Port Klang in Malaysia, the Hong Kong registered cargo-ship Cheung Son was approached just off the west coast of Kaohsiung in Taiwan by a small boat which appeared to be a Chinese Customs vessel. Left with little choice, the captain allowed the officers on board his ship, which carried a cargo of furnace slag. Once on board the Cheung Son, the Chinese ‘officers’, dressed in uniform and armed with guns, threatened the crew and took control of the vessel. After being held hostage for ten days, all twenty-three Chinese crew members of the Cheung Son were bludgeoned to death and their weighted bodies thrown into the sea. After the killings, the pirated vessel was sold within China for about US$36,000. The new owner hired a new crew and reportedly sold the vessel to an unknown Singaporean party for US$300,000.

The pirates, however, did not get away with their crime. In an interview granted to the foreign media, Chinese police officials recounted that investigation into the Cheung Son's disappearance had begun when the owner of the vessel reported loss of contact with the ship. As fishermen found the first bodies of the murdered crew members, police learned that a man from Shanwei “went to sea and came back with a lot of money and a dented boat”. The police officers eventually located the boat and its owner, who was hiding in a fishing village. He told the police that he had lent his vessel to two other men who could be found in Shenzen. Acting on this information, 300 officers raided a karaoke bar, where the alleged members of the pirate gang were celebrating. In the course of further investigation, the Chinese authorities discovered that some of the gang members had been involved in at least two other serious pirate attacks between August and November 1998. This information and the discovery of a celebratory photograph, taken by the pirates on board the Cheung Son, led to further arrests.