ReCAAP ISC expressed its concern over a trend of recent violence, specifically the latest situations of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.
In light of the situation, the organization hosted an annual workshop for its members, while issued a report about recent occurrences of violence against crew members onboard ships at the Batangas anchorage south of Manila in the northern Philippines.
Namely, on August 26, ReCAAP ISC held the annual workshop, where participants focused on the recent armed robberies and discussed ways to further improve the accuracy and timeliness of such incidents.
We have seen an increase of piracy and sea robbery incidents in Asia during January to July this year with 58 incidents. This is an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the same period of last year (37 incidents).
…Masafumi Kuroki, Executive Director of ReCAAP ISC noted.
Moreover, ReCAAP had recently reported two specific incidents of armed robbery against ships within a week in the Philippines, while alerted crews and the local authorities to the dangers.
ReCAAP advised masters and crew to exercise vigilance, maintain constant look-out for suspicious boats in the vicinity and report all incidents immediately to the authorities. The local authorities were also urged to enhance surveillance, increase patrols and respond promptly to incidents.
