Shipowners with vessels off Malaysia have been warned to be on guard for possible pirates in the area.
Authorities report that members of Abu Sayyaf, a small, violent jihadist group in the Phillipines, may try to abduct a vessel's crew in waters between Indonesia and the Phillipines.
The pirates may arrive off the Borneo Island state of Sabah early tomorrow morning, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
The suspected assailants might use a blue three-engine speedboat to carry out a possible attack, ReCAAP said.
Word of the possible kidnapping came from Phillipine authorities , London-based security broker Asket said. No ships have been named in the warning.
All vessels transiting the area are advised to exercise extreme caution.
Asia incidents down for the first quarter
A total of 14 incidents -- nine actual and five attempted -- were reported in Asia during this year's first quarter, ReCAAP statistics show. Of those occurrences, 13 involved armed assailants.
This compares to 27 incidents -- 21 actual and six attempted -- during the same period in 2017.
Two piracy incidents were reported in Asia last month, according to ReCAAP.
