Piracy is a growing threat in Papua New Guinea’s coastal waters and riverine waterways, warns National Capital District (NCD) water police officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Justus Baupo.

Combating the problem needs a combined effort, he said.

He said piracy was normally carried out by armed criminals, most of them land-based using small high-powered craft to attack civilians in dinghies and canoes, inter-island ferries, and private yachts.

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More brazen attacks targeting barges and oceangoing ships had been attempted too.

Sergeant Baupo said fighting this new threat to the safety of Papuan New Guineans needed vigilance.

He said police were often handicapped and needed community assistance to deter piracy.

There were a lot of challenges faced by police officers, especially funding for accommodation, allowance, fuel, maintenance of the boat’s oil, fuel, parts, and engine.

Expensive exercise
He said it was quite an expensive exercise looking after police surveillance and a fast response boat.

“I have restless nights trying to figure out where I can get funds to fix the boat so it can run the next day,” he said.

“Superiors will ask that we need the boat here and there the next day, but the boat cannot move when one part or piece is not available, so it’s a challenge.”

He praised his men and women for persevering when out on the sea.

“Operating a boat is not easy. We are policemen and women but we need sailors’ skills and spirit out there. We live in a new environment, and they have adapted well,” he said.

“One thing about water police is that you are in the open ocean so you must know the tides, swells, the weather, reefs and where to go, how far to go while carrying out your duties.

“Seamanship is important because you will find yourself in some cases conducting search and rescue, so we have to prepare for all scenarios.

Milne Bay success
“Sometimes I feel for the men but because of the demand of work, they go to find water and biscuits, and we go out to sea.”

He said that their presence in Milne Bay for the last nine months had slowed down piracy there, according to local leaders.

The presence of the police boats was a huge deterrent in Milne Bay waters.

He said another emerging trend in piracy was the stealing of dinghies and motors and reselling them in neighboring provinces.

He cautioned civilians to be vigilant against pirates and report suspicious passengers to police via mobile phones.

Republished with permission.

Ten years ago, a dinghy carrying 5 medical research institute scientists disappeared in Papua New Guinea’s West New Britain waters.

The scientists — 3 men and 2 women — have never been found.

A few weeks ago, the PNG Medical Research Institute finally closed its book on the missing five.

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• Global piracy on The Conversation

What remains interesting in this case is an open finding in a coronial inquest several years ago, which did not rule out an act of piracy in its conclusion.

Last Friday, hundreds of angry protesters marched in the town of Buka, raising their voices against piracy and venting their anger against the new Autonomous Region of Bougainville for failing to take action against sea pirates.

They, just like every other Papua New Guinean, have every right to know how their loved ones have vanished without a trace while travelling along the shores or out in the open oceans.

In recent years in East New Britain, sea pirates caught by police were prosecuted and sentenced to death.

In the Gulf of Papua, travellers from Gulf and Western fall victim to sea and river pirates.

Along the Northern Province waters and Milne Bay waters, sea piracy is becoming a common law and order issue. In the last two years, wanted criminal Tommy Baker led a string of piracy attacks.

He is still on the run.

Papua New Guinea has a vast coastline and many islands.

In fact, our coastline is said to be 5,152 km (3,201 miles) long. And out in the open seas, there are many big islands and even more smaller islands, many uninhabited.

Policing the vast coastline and the islands is nonexistent.

Once in a while, we hear of piracy, boats shot up, people robbed, women kidnapped and sexually abused, children subjected to trauma.

Some victims are never to be heard of or seen again.

In the absence of anything resembling a coast guard, the government needs to have a policy on this that works for public confidence, public protection and interest.

The NMSA needs to seriously consider this as a national threat to the safety of our travelling public who use small craft and smalls ships for movement of passengers and cargo.

Police boats given to maritime provinces are virtually useless given that they are hardly used on anti-piracy patrols due to lack of funding.

Boat travellers and seagoing ships are tired of this. Incidences of piracy are now being reported on our country’s big rivers and waterways. This is adding to the fear our people face.

Some years ago, the NMSA made it compulsory for small boats to be registered, and owners to provide emergency equipment on their craft.

This law is not effective, just as taxi meters for taxi operators is non operable on land.

In this age of rocket science, internet and robots, and drones, finding missing boats or hijacked craft using GPS, should be made mandatory and the costs passed onto dinghy manufacturers to include Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon on their products.

Frankly, we have had enough of piracy on the high seas and on our rivers.

This editorial was published by the PNG Post-Courier today, 29 September 2021.