Three bulkers were targeted by suspected thieves in the Singapore Strait over the weekend in a period of less than three hours.

The incidents took place in the eastbound lane of the traffic separation scheme (TSS) between 11.09 pm (3.09 pm GMT) on Saturday and 1.30 am on Sunday, according to the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) information sharing centre.

In the first incident, the Thenamaris-owned 82,600-dwt Seajourney (built 2009) reported an unauthorised perpetrator near the entrance of the ship’s engine room.

The alarm was raised and the master carried out a search of the ship, but the person was not found, according to ReCAAP.

The ship was en route to Ciwadan, Indonesia, and underway at about 3.1 nautical miles (5.74 km) from Nongsa Point on Pulau Batam, Indonesia, when the incident took place.

Less than two hours later, the 26,900-dwt bulker A Racer (built 1996) was told by the Singapore vessel traffic information system (VTS) that an “unknown craft” had come alongside.

The ship, which was about 2.3 nautical miles (4.3 km) north of Pulau Nongsa, later reported that five unauthorised people were sighted on board the ship.

The alarm was raised, and a search was carried out on board, but again there were no further sighting of the perpetrators.

Unknown craft

Less than 45 minutes later, the 63,400-dwt bulker El Matador (built 2016) was also alerted by Singapore VTS that an unknown craft had come alongside it.

The master reported seeing three intruders in the engine room. The alarm was raised, and four people were seen fleeing the ship.

As the master was not sure if all the perpetrators had left the ship, he diverted to the Batam anchorage for boarding by the Indonesian navy.

A security search was conducted, but there were no further sighting of the intruders, according to ReCAAP.

There have now been six incidents of ships being approached by suspicious craft while underway in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait between 11 and 26 October.

With the six incidents in October, a total of 28 incidents have now been reported in the Singapore Strait since January. This compares with 31 incidents reported in the whole of last year.

ReCAAP said it was “concerned with the increase of incidents” in the Singapore Strait and that, as the perpetrators had not been arrested, there was a possibility of further incidents.

“All ships are advised to exercise utmost vigilance, adopt extra precautionary measures and report all incidents immediately to the nearest coastal state,” it said.

ReCAAP urged the littoral states to “increase patrols and enforcement in their respective waters, strengthen coordination and promote information sharing” on incidents and criminal groups involved in order to make arrests.