Piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia has fallen for the second consecutive month, according to a Singapore-based piracy watchdog.
Thirteen incidents were reported in October according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
This compares with 18 reported incidents in September and 25 incidents in August.
Of the 13 incidents reported in October seven took place in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS); two at the Indian anchorages of Kandla and Sikka; one at Indonesia’s Belawan anchorage; one at Sandakan anchorage in East Malaysia; one at Davao in the Philippines and a single incident at Vietnam’s Cai Lan anchorage.
“The situation in the SOMS is of concern as there has been an increase in unauthorised boardings in the eastbound lane of the TSS since January 2015,” said ReCAAP.
“From January-October 2015, a total of 103 incidents had been reported compared to 33 incidents during the same period in 2014 and eight in 2012.”
For the year-to-date the number of incidents was also lower with 174 taking place between January and October 2015 versus the 187 seen over the same period in 2014.
October was also the second consecutive to see no incidents vessel hijacks for the purposes of siphoning off fuel oil cargoes.
The last such incident reported was the hijacking of the 3,500-dwt bunker tanker Joaquim (built 1995) in the Malacca Strait in August.
“Compared to August and September, the number of incidents reported in October 2015 has decreased by 48% and 28% respectively,” said ReCAAP.
“Nevertheless, there is no room for complacency, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
