In its weekly report for 25 February -2 March, ReCAAP ISC informed of four incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia. Of the four incidents, one occurred in the Kutubdia Channel, Bangladesh; one at North Anchorage, Kakinada, India; one at Panjang Anchorage, Indonesia; and one in the Singapore Strait.
In its weekly report for 11-18 February, ReCAAP ISC informed of two incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia: one at an Indian anchorage and another one off Indonesia, in the Singapore Strait. The latter is the seventh incident reported in the region this year. There was also an incident on the Arabian Sea.
A total of 11 armed robberies against ships were reported in Asia in January 2020, ReCAAP ISC said in its monthly report. The number of actual incidents is the same with December 2019. The two alarming issues concern the recurrence of four incidents in the Singapore Strait and one crew abduction off Malaysia in January 2020.
In its weekly report for 4-10 February, ReCAAP ISC informed of three armed robberies against ships in Asia. Of the three incidents, two occurred to ships underway in the Singapore Strait and another occurred onboard a tug boat while anchored at Martabari Anchorage, Bangladesh.
On 9 February, two incidents occurred within an interval of an hour to ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait. With these two incidents, a total of six incidents have been reported in the Singapore Strait in 2020, all in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait.
In a written reply to a Parliamentary Question on Piracy Along Singapore Strait by Mr Christopher de Souza, the Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen noted that the Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF) plans to restructure in order to deal with piracy at sea.
In its weekly report for 21-27 January, ReCAAP ISC informed of three incidents of armed robbery against ships, comprising one CAT 3 incident and two CAT 4 incidents. The CAT 3 incident occurred to a tanker while anchored off Port Kabil, east of Pulau Batam, Indonesia.
In its weekly report for 14-20 January, ReCAAP ISC informed of four incidents against ships in Asia, comprising a very serious incident (CAT 1) and three least serious (CAT 4) incidents. The highlight of the week was the first crew abduction in 2020 from a fishing vessel off Malaysia on 17 January.
ReCAAP ISC issued another Incident Alert to shipping regarding two subsequent incidents of scrap metal theft from ships while underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait. This is the sixth relevant warning by ReCAAP ISC, validating an alarming trend of piracy activity in the region.
A total of 82 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia were reported in 2019, says ReCAAP ISC in its Annual Report, noting a 15% increase in the actual incidents compared to 2018. Despite the increase, these numbers are still the second lowest since 2007.
