The bosun of an unnamed bulker has been beaten up by pirates during a robbery at an anchorage off South Vietnam.
Two robbers armed with knives are said to have boarded the vessel while it was anchored at the Godau Anchorage in Vietnam.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre said the robbers threatened and injured the ship’s bosun before tying him up.
However, the seafarer was able to free himself and warn the ship’s master who raised the alarm and mustered the crew.
The IMB said the unnamed bosun was sent ashore for medical treatment, but details of his injuries were not disclosed.
A search of the ship showed that stores were missing. Port authorities later boarded the vessel and began an investigation.
Security breaches in Vietnam’s ports and anchorages had been falling, according to UK-based security consultancy Gray Page.
“The latest attack at Godau Anchorage in the south of the country was the first for over a year to have involved violence,” it said.
In 2017 there were only two incidents reported to The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
In both cases intruders boarded ships at anchor at the Cam Pha anchorage in the north-east of the country and stole paint and other ship stores.
In neither case were there confrontations with crew members.
“The fall in the number of incidents recorded in Vietnamese ports from 27 in 2015 to just two in 2017 has been attributed to a variety of reasons including the arrest of perpetrators and the creation of jobs for unemployed fishermen,” said Gray Page.
