In its weekly report for 9-15 February, ReCAAP ISC reported one incident of armed robbery against ships in Asia, involving a Chinese tug boat and barge, while underway in the Singapore Strait.
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The incident was classified as a CAT 4 1 incident, where the perpetrators were not armed and the crew not harmed.
With this latest incident, a total of four incidents had occurred in the Singapore Strait since January 2021. ReCAAP ISC has also issued an Incident Alert earlier in 2021, informing of three consecutive attacks against ships in the area in five days.
The ReCAAP ISC is concerned with the continued occurrence of incidents in the Singapore Strait, and advises all ships to exercise enhanced vigilance and adopt extra precautionary measures when transiting the area. The Centre also urges the littoral States to increase patrols and enforcement in their respective waters, strengthen coordination among them and promote information sharing on the latest situation and the criminal groups involved in order to make arrests of the perpetrators.
The incident
The Chinese tug boat Ning Hai Tuo 6002 and the barge Daqia Haiyu Barge were approximately 6.1 nm south west of Pulau Nipa, Indonesia in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait.
While underway, the master was informed of the unauthorized boarding of two perpetrators on the unmanned barge, Daqia Haiyu.
The two perpetrators escaped upon being sighted. A search onboard the barge was carried out with no further sighting of the perpetrators. Some shackles were stolen from the barge.
The crew was accounted for and no further assistance was required. The tug boat and barge resumed their passage east bound for China.
