The fragile truce, effective from February 23, 2002, between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE was finally shattered after the Tamil Tiger rebels blew up a Sri Lankan navy Dvora class gunboat outside Trincomalee harbour on January 5, 2006. The suicide attack was the work of an LTTE-owned explosives-packed fishing boat that rammed into the naval vessel, resulting in 13 sailors missing and presumed dead. Earlier, three sailors aboard a smaller naval patrol craft were killed more than two weeks ago in a sea battle with rebels off the northwestern town of Mannar.
With sensors and submarine detection methods becoming more sophisticated and advanced, a submarine's primary advantage—its ability to operate undetected and unobserved—has been vitiated because it needs to surface frequently for recharging batteries. Even coming up to snorkel depth while evading human visual capabilities is now well within the cognisant ability of advanced ‘eyes in the sky’.
Two piracy attacks in less than a fortnight on Japanese flagged vessels transiting through the Malacca Strait have shaken up the government in Tokyo as also the national shipping agencies. On March 14, armed pirates in three fishing boats boarded a Japanese-flag ocean tug MV Idaten towing a large construction barge Kurooshia, for Myanmar in the Straits of Malacca. They kidnapped the Japanese Master and two engineers. Later, the Royal Malaysian police patrol boats escorted the tug and towed the vessel to Penang.
The unprecedented destruction caused by Tsunami waves on December 26 last year is not only a rare phenomenon for Indian Ocean countries, but it is also unique as it witnessed intense diplomatic manoeuvring in the name of aid. The aid flowing from donor countries carry not only humanitarian assistance but are also seen as a diplomatic tool used to further their foreign policy objectives. The first move in this regard was made by India while coping with the disaster on its eastern shores. It is interesting to note that despite suffering the loss of almost 15,000 lives and the need for Rs.
A containerised cargo system has emerged as the most convenient and cost-effective mode of transporting large volumes of goods. It has reduced handling time by minimising break-bulk operations, thereby permitting the shipping infrastructure to keep up with increasing volumes of goods that must be transported. But it has its own problems that seem to take a back seat, particularly with the international maritime shipping system, who believe in the philosophy of maximising profits and, in most cases, at the cost of security.