Incidents of ship robbery in Asia have increased by 5% compared to a year ago, newly released figures show.
A total of 57 incidents were reported between January-August 2018, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
Of these, 54 were incidents of armed robbery against ships and three were piracy incidents, the Singapore-based organization said.
This compares with a total of 54 incidents comprising 46 actual and eight attempted incidents that were reported during January-August 2017.
“The increase in the total number of incidents during January-August 2018 was due to the larger number of attempted incidents compared to the same period in 2017,” ReCAAP said.
“A total of 12 attempted incidents were reported during January-August 2018 compared to eight attempted incidents during the same period in 2017.”
ReCAAP said the number of actual incidents remains “fairly consistent” during January-August of 2018 and 2017.
However, ReCAAP said there has been an increase in the number of incidents reported at anchorages off Chittagong, Bangladesh in the year-to-date.
A total of 11 incidents were reported during January-August 2018 compared to six incidents reported during the same period in 2017.
Of the 11 incidents reported during January-August 2018, 10 incidents occurred at anchorages off Chittagong and one incident occurred at anchorage off Kutubdia Island.
August saw a total of eight incidents of armed robbery against ships reported in Asia. However, there were no reports of any piracy.
Ships involved included the 107,000-dwt product tanker Omera Legacy (built 2005), the 32,000-dwt SFL Tyne (built 2014), the feeder containership MCC Ningbo (built 2016) and the 46,000-dwt product tanker Maersk Mishima (built 2010).
