In its weekly report for 28 April-4 May, ReCAAP ISC informed of one armed robbery against ships in Asia, involving the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker ‘Chem Ranger’ in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait.
The incident took place in the early morning hours of 30 April, approximately 6.2 nm northwest of Tanjung Tondong, Pulau Bintan, Indonesia in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait (Straits of Malacca & Singapore).
With this incident, a total of 12 incidents have occurred in the Singapore Strait since January 2020, comprising 11 incidents in the eastbound lane of the TSS and one incident in the precautionary area in the Singapore Strait.
The new incident comes in addition to three incidents reported in the eastbound lane within just 15 days, according to a relevant incident alert by ReCAAP ISC last week.
The ReCAAP ISC had issued five Incident Alerts in 2019 and two Incident Alerts in 2020 on incidents occurred to ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait.
The incident
While the tanker was en route from Singapore to Ulsan, Republic of Korea, three perpetrators were sighted in the engine room.
The general alarm was raised and crew mustered. The master reported the incident to Singapore Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS). A safety navigational broadcast was initiated. The Republic of Singapore Navy’s (RSN) Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF), Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) and the Indonesian authorities were notified.
The master deviated the ship back to the port of Singapore and requested assistance from the authorities to conduct search on board for the perpetrators.
Upon her arrival in Singapore, the Singapore PCG officers boarded the ship and conducted a search. There was no sighting of the perpetrators onboard. The crew was not injured and nothing was stolen.
Recommendations
The ReCAAP ISC urges ship master and crew to report all incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships to the nearest coastal State and flag State, exercise vigilance and adopt relevant preventive measures taking reference from the Regional Guide to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia.
