European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 4, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine buccaneers of the 80s byjoe Waschenbach National geographic a Board the Falcon countess both the Captain and he Crew believed their ship had cleared Iho danger zone in the pirate infested Strait of Malacca the Busy Trade route linking the Indian Ocean and the South China sea. Then the pirates appeared armed with knives and bayonets. They swarmed aboard bound the Captain. And made off with $20,000 from the ship s sate. Of die West coast of Africa pirates steal everything that s not nailed Down according to a German sea Captain in a South american port a danish Captain was warned not to sleep in his Cabin while at Anchor because of the peril of pirates. These Era not tales from the swashbuckling Days of Yore when the likes of Caplain Kidd blackboard and the Barbary pirates roamed the seas. The Falcon countess a merchant vessel leased to the . Military. Was attached last year. Pirate watches Are routinely posted on ships navigating the narrow Straits of Malacca and Singapore Alert Crews fit off today s pirates by washing Tham overboard with tire  in Many of the same haunts of old pirates Are a serious problem in the 1980s. At least one act of piracy occurs every Day somewhere in the world. Thai rate includes All forms of sea piracy from the most Savage the rape and murder of vietnamese refugees fleeing across the Gulf of Thailand to the seizing of yachts and other pleasure boats for drug running in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Piracy is a phenomenon that comes and goes says Gerhard pm. Mueller professor of criminal Justice at Rutgers  have been 12 major eras of piracy since ancient phoenician limes Mueller says. The current one started in the mid-1970s, reached its Crest in 1980 81, and Haa continued Al that High  if not in Jolly Roger Eye Patet Vand Parrot. High seas  says Peler Kidman of the London Bawd International maritime Bureau set up in 1960 by the International chamber of Commerce to Monitor the growing wave of maritime fraud which includes paper Snd-paintbnish11 piracy As Well As the More traditional Ait like earlier buccaneers today s pirates Are often after tool that can be easily carried Oft jewelry Money and personal  prowl poorly a trotted often politically do souled water off weak coastal countries. They frequent to attack in seas dotted Ullh islands thai provide National geographic Slem shinny up ropes hold the Crew Al gunpoint Rob the Safe and steal personal valuables then disappear Over the Side. This is typical when the target to a cargo ship or Tanker says Daniel j. Dzurek a stale department geographer who has studied piracy worldwide. Piracy against commercial vessels is the most geographically widespread occurring in the sea lanes of the far East off the West coast of Africa in the Eastern Mediterranean and Oil the brazilian coast of South America a says. In the lira six months of 1985, the International maritime Bureau received 28 reports of pirate attacks against commercial vessels most from the Strait of Malacca and West Africa. We know the majority of cases Are not reported says Kidman who also notes an upsurge in terrorism at sea such As last year s Achilla Lauro takeover. For a Long Lime Nigeria was one of the worst trouble spots ships Welting to Dock at Lagos Ware silting ducks for pirates. A nigerian government crackdown that began in 1962 has helped Cut the number of incidents dramatically. But Kidman says the pirates simply moved along the coast to other countries such As Uberia Sierra Leone Guinea and the Ivory coast off West Africa pirates have taken everything from Champagne and perfume to infant formula and birth control pills. Everywhere electronic equipment is prize Booty. I have visions of pirates with Sony Walkman says Dzurek. Off West Africa and in the Eastern Mediterranean where countries such As Lebanon have Little control of their ports stolen cargo can be illegally unloaded with no questions asked. Cries of piracy sometimes disguise maritime fraud. In some cases o paper piracy the ship total / disappears says Robert c. Ritchie a history professor at the University of California san Diego. A shipment of Oil for example May be taken to an illegal port in South Africa offloaded and sold there the ship taken out to sea and sunk and the insurance Money  in other cases ships reported lost at sea have been diverted to Clandestine ports unloaded and repainted reappearing under a new name and a new Flag. By far us most brutal and bloody Acla of piracy Are against vietnamese boat people fleeing to Thailand and Malaysia pirates most of them thai fishermen killed ss3 people abducted 587. And raped 734 women from 1962 through 19 35, tha United nations reports. Another it people have been reported missing and Are presumed read these violent attacks occurred even after the Start of an Anh piracy program in 1932 by the thai government with the support of the in. And a dozen member nations. Before More than half of Al refugee boats Ware attacked now about 30 percent Are. In the Caribbean where 17th-Century pirates attacked Rich Spanish galleons. The target today is usually the boat itself not its cargo. Narco pirates seize pleasure Craft and convert them into drug smuggling vessels. But this is happening less often geographer Dzurek Seya As More such pirate take to tha skies. They come from Salem in High Speed motorboats usuary Al night. They throw grappling Hooks Over the saturday. October 4, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 13