Barges under tow in the approaches to the Singapore Strait are again being targeted by thieves, a top UK security consultancy has warned.
In the first quarter of 2019 there were at least two reports of barges being boarded in the shipping lanes to the west of the Strait, according to Gray Page.
The two incidents reportedly took place in waters between the Indonesian island of Karimunbesar and Malaysia’s Johor coast.
In the second of the two incidents, in early March, eleven thieves were seen to board, yet the tugs towing the barges were said to have been “unmolested”.
Gray Page said most of the cases of theft from vessels underway in the Singapore area are recorded as taking place near the western sector of the Singapore Strait Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS).
Unmanned scrap metal barges were among the vessels most frequently targeted, according to analysis by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP).
“Their slow speed and low freeboard made them particularly vulnerable. Thieves were able to board the barges after coming alongside in small boats and sampan, with many of the incidents taking place in daylight,” said Gray Page.
Tug masters should be vigilant for the approach of small craft when underway and report all suspicious activity, it advised.
