January – December 2014
ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre has issued its annual report (January – December 2013) on piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia. According to the report, there is an overall improvement of the situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia. Although the number of incidents has increased, the bulk of them were pettytheft.
Notably, compared to 2012, there has been a remarkable reduction in the number ofCategory 1 (very significant) incidents and Category 2 (moderately significant) incidents,while Category 3 (less significant) incidents has remained fairly consistent. The petty theft(73) and Category 3 (36) incidents comprised 77% of the incidents reported in 2013. The other23% comprised the Category 1 (2) and Category 2 (30) incidents, which was lowest based ona year-on-year comparison. The two Category 1 incidents involved the hijacking of producttankers for illegal siphoning of marine gas oil (MGO)/crude oil they carried onboard.
In 2013, a total of 150 incidents comprising 141 actual incidents and nine attempted incidentswere reported to the ReCAAP ISC after verification by the ReCAAP Focal Points. Amongstthese incidents, 11 were piracy incidents and 139 were incidents of armed robbery againstships which occurred mostly at ports and anchorages. Compared to 2012, the number ofincidents reported in 2013 has increased by 13%, but compared to 2011 and 2010, it hasdecreased by 4% and 10% respectively.
The incidents reported in 2013 were generally less violent compared to the previous four years(2009-2012). Incidents involving crew being assaulted, held hostage and threatened were lessfrequent in 2013 compared to previous years. Of incidents where losses were reported, theftof ship stores made up a higher proportion of incidents reported (42%) compared to loss ofcash and personal property (15%).
Incidents involving ships at anchor and berth accounted for 80% of the total incidents reportedin 2013, with more than 50% of them occurred at ports and anchorages in Indonesia, andmostly were Category 3 and petty theft incidents. Incidents involving ships while underwayoccurred mostly in the South China Sea (11) and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (12). Ofthe 11 incidents in the South China Sea, one was a Category 1 incident and five were Category2 incidents. However, incidents in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore were mostly Category3 and petty theft in nature and involved tug boats and barges. Incidents involving tug boatsand barges were on a decline in numbers and severity level in 2013 compared to previousyears. No hijacking of tug boat was reported for the first time in five years (2009-2013).
Location of Incidents
Image Credit: ReCAAP ICS Annual Report (page 7)
ReCAAP Annual Report includes detailed data of the piracy incidents reported in Asia during last month, a compariosn of incidents over a five-year period (2009-2013), incidents involving ships at anchor and at berth and also incidents involving ships while underway. Furthermore, report includes ReCAAP activities and three case studies: theft while ships conducting STS operations, incidents onboard tug boats and barges and illegal siphoning of MGO/ crude oil.
While the number of incidents involving tug boats andbarges has decreased in 2013, there is no room forcomplacency. The ReCAAP ISC strongly urges ownersand masters of tug boat and barges to:
- exercise extra vigilance during hours of darkness
- maintain communication with authorities at all times
- inform ships in the vicinity as well as activating shipsiren, using portable VHF sets and loud hailer to drawattention of ships/boats
- refer to the guidelines highlighted in the Tug Boats andBarges (TaB) Guide
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Although the overall improvement of the situation of piracy and armed robbery against shipsin Asia has continued in 2013 yet, there is no room for complacency. With the increase inthe number of incidents reported in 2013, of which mostly were petty theft, the number ofsuccessful incidents of piracy and armed robberies against ships has, in fact increased in 2013. Through sharing of the modus operandi of the three typical incidents reported in 2013 (i.e.incidents onboard ships while conducting STS operations, incidents onboard tug boats andbarges; and incidents involving hijacking of tankers for illegal siphoning of MGO and crudeoil); the ReCAAP ISC hopes to instill situation awareness among ship owners, operators,masters and crew so that appropriate anti-piracy measures can be adopted. Selected casestudies demonstrating best practices and lessons learned were also incorporated in this reportto reinforce the need for timely reporting, enhanced vigilance, contingency planning, and closecommunications. Timely reporting would warn other seafarers to be more vigilant, and enablethe authorities to focus on the deployment of limited resources and orchestrate responses. Without emphasizing further, more need to be done at certain ports and anchorages andprecautionary measures are to be taken for certain type of vessels which are more vulnerableto attacks, such as tug boats, barges and tankers carrying MGO and crude oil. |
For more information, please read the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre- Annual Report 2013 (click at image below)
