Tag: armed robbery

During 8 – 11 April 2021, three incidents of armed robbery were reported onboard ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait, ReCAAP ISC said in a new Incident Alert to shipping. 

In its weekly report for 30 Mar-5 Apr 2021, ReCAAP ISC informed of two incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia. Both were CAT 4 incidents where the perpetrators were not armed and the crew not harmed.

In its weekly report for 23-29 March, ReCAAP ISC informed of two armed robberies against ships in Asia. One incident occurred to a bulk carrier while underway in the eastbound lane of the TSS in Singapore Strait and the other occurred to a bulk carrier anchored at Cam Pha Port, Vietnam.

While anchored at Callao Anchorage Area "1", Peru, on 16 March, the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier ' Baker River' was boarded and robbed by armed perpetrators, who threatened and tied a crew member.

In its weekly report for 9-15 March, ReCAAP ISC informs of two seperate armed robberies in Asia, involving the same ship, which occurred on 28 January and 26 February 2021, respectively.

Singapore's Information Fusion Centre (IFC) has recorded a total of five incidents against ships in the Eastbound Lane of the Singapore Strait within 2021 so far. Two of them were sea thefts and three were attempred incidents. 

There were three incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia in February 2021, according to ReCAAP ISC's monthly report. No piracy incident was reported. The number of incidents reported during January-February 2021 has decreased compared to January-February 2020, due to the decrease of incidents in several locations in Asia. 

The ReCAAP ISC has received information from the Philippine Coast Guard about an attempted boarding on the bulk carrier 'Akij Pearl', while off Sibutu Island, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, in the morning hours of 3 March 2021. 

The rise in the number of incidents over the past few years has prompted the Singapore government to take further action, with its announced intention to restructure its maritime security arrangements and operate new purpose-built vessels by 2026. 

British security intelligence firm Dryad Global issued its annual report for 2020, providing an overview of piracy trends worldwide. The report reveals that robberies are the most prevalent incident type in West Africa, but kidnapping incidents remain unacceptably high in Gulf of Guinea. Meanwhile, incidents in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia remain low.