Transport ministers urge better maritime security

TOKYO (Reuters) – Representatives of 14 countries including
Japan, China, the United States, Indonesia and Malaysia on
Thursday urged tighter maritime security to prevent acts of
terrorism and piracy.

The call came at a two-day international conference in
Tokyo — site of a deadly sarin gas attack on subways in 1995
– on ways to improve the security of air, land and sea
transport.

“We recognize that acts of terrorism pose a serious threat
to international maritime transport and that acts of piracy and
armed robbery against ships recur with alarming consequences,”
a statement issued on behalf of the transport ministers said
after an initial session.

“We therefore believe that it is essential to reduce the
vulnerability of international maritime transport to such
unlawful acts.”

Officials said the ministers would also issue statements on
air and land transport safety later in the day.

Represented at the meeting are Japan, China, South Korea,
Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Britain, Indonesia, France,
Germany, Italy, Russia, the United States and Canada, along
with the International Maritime Organization and three other
global bodies, officials said.

The only attacks on Japan in recent years have been of
domestic origin. In 1995 members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday
cult released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway during the morning
rush hour, killing 12 people and making more than 5,000 ill.