The chief engineer aboard a Team Tankers chemical tanker has been assaulted by robbers while the ship was waiting off Indonesia.
The 13,162-dwt Sichem Rio (built 2006) was boarded by six robbers armed with knives five nautical miles outside the port of Tanjung Priok.
The incident happened shortly just before dawn on 31 July 2019, but has gone largely unreported by the media.
Details have just been reported by the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
“The six perpetrators assaulted and injured the chief engineer who was on routine rounds,” ReCAAP said in its latest weekly report.
“The alarm was raised and crew mustered. Seeing that the crew was alerted, the perpetrators escaped empty handed.”
UK maritime security firm Gray Page said this is the seconded recorded incident of intruders boarding a vessel at Tanjung Priok in just over a month.
“In late June, thieves boarded a bulk carrier and stole equipment and property from a storeroom. The bulk carrier was at berth, working cargo,” it said.
“Theft and robbery continue to be a problem for ships in Indonesian ports and anchorages.
“Three days before the latest incident, crew spotted armed intruders on a tanker berthed at Lubuk Gaung Anchorage in Indonesia’s Dumai Port.”
Gray Page said perpetrators board ships alone or in gangs, generally at night and sometimes armed with knives.
It advices ships in the area to “maintain strict watches” at the approaches to ports and while at berth and in anchorages.
In April 2019, ReCAAP highlighted the improving situation in Indonesia in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2018.
“The improvement was most apparent at the ports and anchorages in Indonesia; with three incidents reported between January-March 2019 compared to nine incidents during the same period in 2018,” it said.
