ReCAAP: Nine Incidents Of Piracy And Armed Robbery Against Ships Reported In Asia, April 2020

A total of nine incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia in April 2020. Of the nine incidents, one was a piracy incident and eight were incidents of armed robbery against ships. There was no report of abduction of crew in the SuluCelebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah in April 2020. However, the abduction of crew for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah remains a serious concern.

The ReCAAP ISC is also concerned about the continued occurrence of incidents on board ships while underway in the Singapore Strait. With three incidents reported in April 2020, a total of 12 incidents have been reported in the Singapore Strait since January 2020. Of the 12 incidents, 11 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) and one incident in the precautionary area in the Singapore Strait. The ReCAAP ISC has issued an Incident Alert (IA/04/2020) on 30 Apr 20 on the three incidents which occurred during 16-30 Apr to ships while underway in the Singapore Strait.

Number Of Incidents

In April 2020, nine incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported. All were actual incidents. No attempted incident was reported. All incidents have been verified and reported to the ReCAAP ISC by ReCAAP Focal Points. Refer to the Appendix on pages 24-28 for a description of the incidents.

Image Credits: recaap.org

Graph 1 shows the number of incidents reported each month from April 2019 to April 2020. On a month-to-month comparison, the number of total incidents reported in April 2020 is lower than the monthly number of incidents in 2020, except for the preceding month of March 2020.

Status Of Ships

Of the nine incidents reported in April 2020, five incidents occurred on board ships when at anchor and four incidents on board ships while underway.

Significance Level Of Incidents

Of the nine actual incidents reported in April 2020, two were CAT 3 incidents and seven were CAT 4 incidents. No CAT 1 or CAT 2 incident was reported in April 2020.

Of the two CAT 3 incidents, one incident occurred on board a container ship anchored at Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) Breakwater, Philippines, and one incident on board a bulk carrier while underway in the Singapore Strait. In both incidents, the perpetrators were armed with knives, and the crew was not injured.

Four of the seven CAT 4 incidents occurred on board ships while at anchor (off Alang Anchorage, India, at Taboneo Anchorage, Indonesia, off Tanjung Kelesa, Johor, Malaysia and at Vung Tau Anchorage, Vietnam). The other three CAT 4 incidents occurred on board ships while underway (two incidents in the Singapore Strait and one incident in the South China Sea).