During the period 19-25 July 22, one CAT 41 incident of armed robbery against ships in Asia was reported to the ReCAAP ISC.
The incident occurred to a bulk carrier while underway in the precautionary area of the Traffic Separation Scheme in the Singapore Strait (SS) on 23 Jul 22. The crew sighted six unauthorised personnel in the engine room. The ship’s alarm was raised and all ship crew mustered.
A search on board the ship was conducted, with no further sighting of the perpetrators. Some engine spare parts were found missing. All crew were accounted for and not harmed. The master reported the incident to Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) West and the company security officer.
With this incident, a total of 30 incidents (comprising 29 actual incidents and one attempted incident) were reported in the SS since January 2022.
Abduction of crew
There is no incident of abduction of crew reported since January 2020 till date, and no crew is currently being held in captivity by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
On 23 Apr 21, the Philippine Armed Forces conducted a military operation against members of the ASG during which one of the ASG leaders responsible for the abduction of crew in the area of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi had managed to escape.
However, as the ASG Commanders responsible for the abduction of crew in the Sulu area are still at large and with the persisting presence of remnants of the group, the threat of abduction of crew from ships remains potentially high, particularly in the areas of Sulu and nearby waters off TawiTawi.
The ReCAAP ISC reiterates its advisory issued via ReCAAP ISC Incident Alert dated 21 Nov 16 to all ships to reroute from the area, where possible. Otherwise, ship masters and crew are strongly urged to exercise extra vigilance while transiting the area, and report all incidents immediately to the Operation Centres of the Philippines and Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) of Malaysia.
Recommendation
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 2 to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia.
