Coast guards from Singapore and South Korea conducted their first ever joint maritime exercise along the Malacca Straits on Friday.

The exercise involved eight vessels and some 100 coast guard personnel from the two sides, according to Channel NewsAsia report.

During the exercise, the officers boarded a merchant ship, which had been attacked and hijacked by pirates, and brought the robbers under control.

Apart from sending a coast guard vessel to act as the merchant ship, South Korea also deployed a helicopter to take part in the rescue mission.

The exercise also helped the two partners get to know each other's training method, tactics and capabilities of combating piracy and sea robberies, said the report.

Thousands of vessels carrying over 30 percent of the world's commerce and half of the world's oil sail along the Malacca and Singapore Straits every year.

The number of reported piracy cases along these sea lanes has dropped to 98 in 2005 from 138 in 2004 and 195 in 2003 due to the strengthening of sea and air patrols by the three littoral states including Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Source: Xinhua