南亚海盗狂暴而归

 

South Asian Pirates Back On the Rampage

南亚海盗狂暴而归

 

Piracy¹ did not end with the demise² of Blackbeard, the world’s most famous pirate, almost three hundred years ago. Despite the overall decline, South Asian seas remain infested³ with pirate ships preying⁵ on merchant vessels⁷ that pass through busy choke points in large numbers. The Strait of Malacca between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the shortest sea route connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans, is the target of most such raids.

 

Dana Robert Dillon: The Malacca Strait is the busiest strait in the world. Something like 50-thousand ships a year travel through it.

 

Dana Robert Dillon says a South Asia analyst⁸ at the Heritage Foundation, a research organization in Washington, says piracy can be linked to corrupt⁹ governments and is most prevalent in the waters of South Asia.

 

Dana Robert Dillon: On the edges of the Malacca Strait, especially the southeastern edge is Indonesia, which is rated as one of the most corrupt countries in Asia, the rule of law is extremely weak. They have just gone through a long democratic transition, which was successful, but the rule of law is weak.

 

Mr. Dillon says in addition to robbing merchant vessels of their cargo¹¹, pirates commonly abduct¹² members of the crew for ransom¹³. He says most of the pirates in the Malacca Strait are Indonesian.

 

Mr. Dillon: Some of them may be the terrorists from the Free Aceh movement. Some of them are just fishermen. Some of them are just robbers, plain old fashioned robbers. A lot of the piracy that takes place actually is just kidnapping. They stop the ship and kidnap the crew and hold them ransom until the company that owns the boat pays the ransom. Some of it is real piracy and a small portion is actual terrorism.

 

Indonesia’s Free Aceh separatist group, also known as GAM, is based on the northern tip of the Sumatra Island. Insurgents¹⁴ seeking independence often attack ships to put political pressure on the Indonesian government, or to make money to fund the movement.  But the International Maritime¹⁵ Bureau reports pirates sometimes blame separatists for their own attacks. 

 

The International Maritime Bureau has issued warnings to shipping¹⁶ companies, and security measures on ships have increased since September-eleven. Industry sources say new technology, such as tracking satellites and electrified¹⁷ fencing to prevent unauthorized boarding, can help to fight piracy.  But some ship owners find these devices too expensive and prefer to take their chances or pay a ransom privately¹⁸ when an incident does occur.  And so the raids have continued and, according to some analysts¹⁹, even increased before the tsunami²⁰ sank a number of pirate vessels. This week’s kidnappings indicate the pirates are back.

 

John Burnett, author of the book “Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas,” says the Malacca Strait is a likely target for international terrorists because it is one of the most strategic and vital waterways.

 

John Burnett: Most of China and Japan’s oil from the Persian Gulf²¹ transit¹⁰ the Malacca Strait. It is a little more than a mile-wide at its narrowest and these oil carriers carrying 300-thousand tons of crude oil are vulnerable and are the soft targets. They are the longest-hanging fruit of world commerce, if you will.

 

John Burnett, who was once captured by pirates himself, says if terrorists seize one of the five-hundred or so ships passing through every day, they could block the strait and cause an economic catastrophe²².

 

For example:

John Burnett: if there is no oil delivered to Japan, or it takes an extra three, or four, or five days to deliver oil to Japan or to China and to Korea, then you are going to have a serious economic global setback²³ because these are the main economic engines in Asia,” he says.

 

After the September-eleven attacks, the United States offered to send its patrol boats to help reinforce security in the strait, but the three countries bordering it rejected the offer on the grounds that it would violate their territorial²⁴ sovereignty.  This protectiveness aids attackers, says John Burnett.  If discovered by a security patrol in Singapore, for example, they can escape into the waters of Indonesia where Singapore’s forces cannot pursue them.

 

Analysts note it takes an international effort to fight global terrorism and the Malacca Strait is one of the places that needs it the most.

 

For Focus, I am Zlatica Hoke.

 

注释：

piracy [5paiErEsi] n. 海盗行为

prey⁴ on 掠夺

merchant vessel⁶ 商船

sea route 航线

strait [streit] n. 海峡

the Heritage Foundation 传统基金会

corrupt [kE5rQpt] adj. 腐败的

prevalent [5prevElEnt] adj. 普遍的

the Malacca Strait 马六甲海峡

abduct [Ab5dQkt] vt. 绑架

ransom [5rAnsEm] n. 勒索

portion [5pC:FEn] n. 一部分

international maritime bureau 国际海事局

tsunami [tsju:5nB:mi] n. 海啸

the Persian Gulf 波斯湾

1 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

2 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

3 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 preying   

v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• This problem has been preying on my mind all day. 这个问题让我伤了整整一天脑筋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For a while he let his eyes idly follow the preying bird. 他自己的眼睛随着寻食的鸟毫无目的地看了一会儿。 来自辞典例句

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

10 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

11 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

12 abduct   

vt.诱拐，拐带，绑架

参考例句：

• The police caught the man who tried to abduct the boy for ransom.警察抓住了那个企图拐走这男孩以便勒索赎金的家伙。
• The news that we see those use network abduct children sometimes filled with apprehension.我们有时看到那些利用网络诱拐儿童的新闻都心惊肉跳。

13 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

14 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

15 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

16 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

17 electrified   

v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The railway line was electrified in the 1950s. 这条铁路线在20世纪50年代就实现了电气化。
• The national railway system has nearly all been electrified. 全国的铁路系统几乎全部实现了电气化。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

19 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

20 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

21 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

22 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

23 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

24 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。