International Maritime Organization (IMO) has published its Monthly Piracy Report for the month of May, where piracy incidents are presented.
The following acts of piracy and armed robbery are allegedly committed against ships reported by IMO Member States or international organizations in consultative status.
During May, Malacca Strait was a hotspot with seven incidents reported in the area. There were 11 piracy incidents in total as reported by the IMO, concerning mostly Bulk Carriers. The vessels attacked were:
Bulk carriers
- Lucky Source in approximately 3.3 nm off Pulau Cula, Indonesia. All crew members were safe and some spare parts for the auxiliary engine were reported stolen.
- Corinthian Phoenix in Singapore Straits, Malaysia. Duty crew on routine rounds noticed the storeroom broken into and ship’s properties missing.
- Nord Adriatic off Pulau Cula, Indonesia. They took hostage and tied the duty crew, stole personal properties and ship’s engine spares. Alert crew raised the alarm and the robbers escaped with the stolen properties.
- Grebe Bulker Owendo Inner Anchorage, Gabon. Master, 2/O and 3/O cabin doors were damaged. The ship’s safe was also opened with contents missing. Three crew were kidnapped.
- Levante in Vung Tau Anchorage, Vietnam. Duty AB on routine rounds onboard an anchored ship, noticed the paint store padlock broken and ship’s stores stolen. A search was carried out and no unauthorised persons were found onboard the ship.
Tugs
- Lanpan 30 / Ombak Biru Satu in Singapore Straits, Singapore. Unauthorised persons boarded an unmanned barge under tow, twice within three hours. All crew members reported safe.
- Jin Hwa 47 / Jin Hwa 48 in approximately 3.56 nm off Tanjung Piai, Malaysia. The crew members were safe. Scrap metal were reported stolen.
Tankers
- Rainbow Star in approximately 8.0 nm northwest of Tanjung Pergam, Bintan Island- Indonesia. Fortunately, he crew members were not injured and nothing was stolen.
- Success in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Around six to eight robbers armed with knives boarded a berthed tanker. Alert crew raised the alarm and mustered resulting in the robbers escaping with stolen ship’s stores.
Other vessels
- Container ship Sol Stride in Manila Bay Anchorage, the Philippines. The crew members were not injured. One life raft, one set of fireman’s outfit, one set of breathing apparatus and six pieces of life jacket were stolen.
- Fishing vessel S.Kittichai 1 off Sri Songkhla Dockyard, Thailand. There was no crew on board. Scrap metals from fishing trawler were stolen.
