Dangerous waters

Attacks on cargo ships cost insurers $100m a year

The region around the Malaysian island of Sipadan contains some of the world's most beautiful and exotic tropical locations.

Like Sipadan - itself a world-renowned diving spot described by diver Jacques Cousteau as an "untouched piece of art" - many of the region's other islands are home to fine white sands, clear waters and a variety of tropical fish and coral reefs.

But while the region as a whole has generally been safe for tourists, parts of it are considered off-limits.

Island rebels

Various armed rebel groups in parts of the southern Philippines have kept tourists away from many locations in the thousands of islands that make up the nearby Sulu Archipelago.

Beautiful locations but dangerous too

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is said to have about 12,000 fighters, has been continuing 20 years of armed insurgency around Mindanao.

The US Embassy recently advised Americans to avoid travelling to Basilan island, 900km (600 miles) south of Manila, the base for Abu Sayyaf, the guerrilla organisation linked with the Sipadan hostage-taking.

There have also been sparks of violence in neighbouring Indonesia. Communal violence erupted last year in Ambon, the main island in the Moluccas. Trouble has also flared up sporadically elsewhere in Indonesia, which contains thousands of islands.

Piracy

Yet it is not just tourists who are at risk - piracy in the South China Sea makes the waters one of the most dangerous in the world.

Approximately one-third of the world's commercial shipping passes through the region annually and about half of last year's 285 attacks recorded worldwide by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) occurred here.

Indonesia and Malaysia are among the worst-hit nations.

Some coastal towns in Malaysia's Sabah state, the scene of Sunday's tourist kidnappings, have been regularly targeted by armed Filipino gangs.

In September 1998, a group of armed pirates killed a fisherman in Bohayan Island in Sabah, took his boat and robbed other fishermen.

A gun-battle followed with pursuing police but the pirates escaped into international waters.

Border patrol co-operation to stem piracy has been a key feature of recent bilateral talks between Malaysia and the Philippines.