On January 21, an anchored ore carrier that was in Jingtang Anchorage, China suffered a piracy attack when two robbers were approaching the vessel with an unlit barge. The two robbers run to escape and nothing was reported stolen.
Specifically, the crew members that were on duty at approximately 1655 UTC, noticed an unlit barge alongside their vessel.
Therefore, they raised the alarm to inform the rest of the crewmembers.
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The two robbers, wearing masks, were seen lowering hoses and escaping from the quarter deck.
While searching the vessel, oil stains were noticed near the MDO tank sounding pipe.
Yet, all tanks were sounded, and there was nothing stolen reported.
Generally, ReCAAP ISC reported that the number of incidents during the period 2007-2018 in Asia fluctuated, with the highest number being reported in 2015 (203 incidents) and the lowest in 2018 (76 incidents).
In South China Sea (SCS) the number of incidents that was reported was 4 incidents (three actual and one attempted) were reported in SCS in 2018. Compared to 2017 there has been a 67% reduction in the number of incidents reported in 2018. In 2017, 12 incidents (11 actual and one attempted) were reported. 2018 reported the lowest number of incidents among the 12-year period of 2007-2018.
