International Maritime Bureau Thursday expressed serious concern over the rise in hijackings of tankers in Southeast Asia and warned that this could be a new trend in piracy attacks in the region. IMB, an international anti-piracy watchdog, said the attacks in Southeast Asia constituted the bulk of the incidents of piracy reported globally so far this year. At least six known cases of coastal tankers being hijacked for their cargoes of diesel or gasoil have been reported in Southeast Asia since April this year, sparking fears of a new trend in attacks in the area, IMB said in a quarterly report. It pointed out that this was in contrast to earlier attacks on vessels at anchorage, that were boarded for petty theft. “The recent increase in the number of successful hijackings is a cause for concern,” IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan said in the report. Though the serious attacks have […]