A total of 73 incidents against ships were reported
ReCAAP issued it’s Half Yearly Report for the period 1st January to 30th June 2014.
A total of 73 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia during January-June 2014, of which 18 were piracy incidents and 55 were armed robberies against ships. Notably, the number of incidents of armed robbery against ships was lowest during January-June 2014 compared to the same period of 2010-2013, and this was attributed to, amongst others, a decline in the number of incidents at ports and anchorages in Indonesia.
Number of incidents (January-June of 2010- 2014)
Except for incidents involving the siphoning of fuel/oil from product/oil tankers which warrants careful monitoring and collective efforts by the shipping industry and authorities in addressing the situation; the overall significance level of incidents reported during January-June 2014 has stablised and remains fairly consistent compared to the same period in past four years.
It is noted that the cooperative mechanism of the littoral States in information sharing and operational cooperation in responding to transnational maritime crime was demonstrated in the incident involving Ai Maru which was boarded by pirates on 14 Jun 14. Timely reporting by the ship owner enabled the ReCAAP ISC to alert the Focal Point of Singapore, the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) and the enforcement agency of Singapore who together with the regional maritime authorities from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia deployed their assets to the location of the incident.
Characteristics of Incident
The proportion of incidents involving ships at anchor and at berth in Asia has decreased over the past three years, from 78% during January-June 2012 to 55% during the same period in 2014. These incidents were usually less significant and petty thefts. This is attributed to the decline in number of incidents at the ports and anchorages in Indonesia.
During January-June 2014, Indonesia reported a 50% decline in the number of incidents at their ports and anchorages compared to the same period in 2013. A total of 20 incidents were reported at the ports and anchorages in Indonesia during January-June 2014 compared to 41 incidents reported there during January- June 2013. However, there has been an increase in incidents involving ships while underway in SOMS and SCS during January-June 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
Violence and Economic Factors
The violence factor of an incident refers to the intensity of violence in an incident, and the indicators used to determine the degree of violence include: the type of weapons used by the pirates/robbers, the treatment of crew, and the number of pirates/robbers involved. The economic factor refers the type of property and cargoes stolen from the ship.
Number of pirates/robbers
Majority of the incidents reported during January- June 2014 involved pirates/robbers operating in groups of one to six men. Of the 15 incidents that involved seven or more pirates/robbers, 10 occurred while the vessels were underway in the SCS (6), SOMS (3) and Bay of Bengal (1).
Number of Pirates/Robbers (January-June 2014)
Type of weapons used
Of the 69 actual incidents reported during January- June 2014, 26 incidents involved pirates/robbers armed with knives/machetes and eight incidents involved pirates/robbers armed with guns and knives. Among the eight incidents involving pirates/ robbers armed with guns and knives, four occurred at anchorages in Indonesia, three in the SCS and one at an anchorage in the Philippines.
Number of Pirates/Robbers (January-June 2014)
The three incidents in the SCS involved siphoning of fuel/oil. Half of the 69 incidents have no report of the type of weapons carried by the pirates/robbers or no information if they were armed or not. The ReCAAP ISC urges ship masters and shipping company to provide details of incidents when reporting an incident.
Treatment of crew
Close to three-quarter of the incidents reported during January-June 2014 mentioned that the crew was not injured or there was no information available on this aspect.
In most incidents, pirates/robbers were opportunistic in nature, non-confrontational and escaped when sighted by the crew. In other incidents, the pirates/robbers threatened the crew with their weapons or tied them to restrict their movements or prevent them from alerting and reporting to the crew/authorities. In two of the incidents, the pirates/ robbers threw knives and stones at the crew.
The ReCAAP ISC advises ship crew to avoid confronting the pirates/robbers after they boarded the ship, especially if they were armed. There was an incident of missing crew who reportedly left the ship together with the pirates bringing along with them their personal belongings and travel documents.
Source and Image Credit: ReCAAP
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