VOA标准英语2008年-Cooperation in Asia Paying Off in Fight Against

By Steve Herman
Nalaguraidhoo, Maldives
21 May 2008

Unprecedented¹ cooperation among Asian government maritime² authorities is beginning to pay off, with serious acts of piracy³ declining in part of the region.  But, as VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from Nalaguraidhoo, Maldives, officials agree that more needs to be done as maritime attacks increase in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.

Pirates have plied⁴ the world's seas for thousands of years.

Their modern-day counterparts continue to rob and kill.  They have added a new twist - seizing ships not for cargo⁵ or money, but to take the vessels⁶ themselves for their own purposes, such as smuggling⁷ or possibly terrorism.

These so-called phantom⁸ ship incidents began escalating⁹ in the 1990's.

Nicholas Teo is the deputy director of the Information Sharing Center of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, known as ReCAAP.

"You had pirate people coming on board, tying up the captain and the ship is left underway, making way without a proper watch-keeper," he noted¹⁰.  "And, the crew were usually all be left in a lifeboat or have been thrown overboard and up to today some of the crew has never been found."

ReCAAP, initiated¹¹ by Japan and greatly funded by Singapore, is endorsed¹² by 14 countries.  It came into force in September, 2006.

Unprecedented sea and air patrols by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in the Strait of Malacca, a busy global shipping¹³ choke point, have led to Southeast Asia no longer being regarded as the world's most dangerous piracy zone.

ReCAAP Deputy Director Teo says data sharing among Asian militaries and maritime law enforcement agencies has also made a difference.

"That also gives the reasons for certain actions to be carried out, particularly in law enforcement and preventative actions," he added.

As a result, the region has seen a downward trend in pirate attacks over the last five-year period.

Although the situation in Southeast Asia has improved, the number of violent boardings of commercial vessels and pleasure craft is increasing elsewhere, notably¹⁴ in the Horn of Africa.

Nine of the Indian Ocean states have sent officials to a conference (of the South Asia Port Security Cooperative) being held on a resort atoll in the Maldives, to discuss how to work together.

There is no serious talk yet of joint¹⁵ patrolling of the Indian Ocean, as in Southeast Asia.  The tensions among some of the neighbors in this region make such cooperation more difficult to accomplish.

India and Pakistan have fought each other three times, in the past 60 years.  India helped Bangladesh win independence from Pakistan.

The chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority, Commodore Muhammed Farooque of the Bangladesh Navy, says his forces are doing their best.

"I don't think we have enough of a mechanism¹⁶ where we can immediately warn our counterparts over there," he said.  "We have always, at least, two or three vessels out at sea - one carrying out inner patrol, the other carrying out outer patrol, extending to about 50 or 60 nautical¹⁷ miles from the coast. So it's very well taken care of." 

Bangladesh says Chittagong is unfairly portrayed¹⁸ as among the world's most pirate-infested port.  The commodore says minor¹⁹ thefts are too often reported as acts of piracy.

The port and shipping industries have taken their own security measures and are also here, at the Maldives conference, to talk about how they can work with government agencies to make the seas safer.

EJ Mathews is corporate²⁰ security manager for DP World - the world's largest port operator, which is headquartered in Dubai.

"We need to look beyond economic interests or strategic interests," he said.  "We need to forge a common front against the common enemy that we have."

The International Maritime Bureau says Nigeria has replaced Indonesia as the world's piracy hot spot. The African country's oil industry has become a lucrative²¹ target. The IMB reports Nigeria accounted for 10 of the 49 attacks registered, worldwide, in the first quarter of this year.

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 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。

3 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。

4 plied   

v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• They plied me with questions about my visit to England. 他们不断地询问我的英国之行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They plied us with tea and cakes. 他们一个劲儿地让我们喝茶、吃糕饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 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》

7 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

8 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

12 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

15 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

16 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

17 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

18 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

20 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

21 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。