Piracy And Armed Robbery In Asia – A Report For July 2015

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The Information Sharing Center of the “Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery” against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) is a formally recognised International organisation to facilitate communications and information exchange among participating governments to improve incident response by member countries; analyse and provide accurate statistics of the piracy and armed robbery incidents to foster better understanding of the situation in Asia.

ReCAAP published a comprehensive report for the Month of July 2015 with regard to the incidents in South East Asian Waters.  This is a comparative study of the same period in the past four years (2011-2014).

Number of incidents:

Graph 1 – Number of incidents (July of 2011-2015):

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Total number of  incidents of armed robbery against ships reported in Asia in July 2015:10
 Total number of actual incidents:8
 Total number of attempted incidents:2
 Status:Notable Decrease
 % decrease from 2013: 41%
 % decrease from 2014: 38%

Categorisation of Significance level of incident:

Chart 1 – Significance level of incidents (July of 2011-2015):

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Category 1 (Very Significant): Nil
Category 2 (Moderately Significant): 1
Category 3 (Less Significant): 1
Petty Theft (Minimum Significant): 6
Observation: This is the first time since January 2015 when no siphoning of ship fuel/oil was known to have had occurred.
Possible reason: The recent arrest of eight perpetrators involved in the hijacking and siphoning of fuel from Orkim Harmony in the South China Sea on 11 Jun 15.

LOCATION OF INCIDENTS

Straits Of Malacca and Singapore(SOMS): 5
Vietnam ports/anchorages: 2
Kandla anchorage, India: 1
Tanjung Kelasa, Malaysia: 1
Pulau Batam: 1

IMPROVING SITUATION IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA AND SINGAPORE (SOMS)

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Incidents in SOMS (Jan-Jul 2015)

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Total incidents from Jan-Jul 2015: 64
Observation: Increasing trend from Jan-Jun; a sharp decline in July.
Possible reason:  Persistent and intensive efforts by the littoral States to step up its surveillance efforts and precautionary measures undertaken by ship masters and crew.

Incidents at Vung Tau anchorage, Vietnam Jan-Jul 2015

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Total incidents from Jan-Jul 2015: 9
Latest incident onboard: Adara product tanker 11 JUL 2015
Observation: Minimum one incident per month reported.
Action required: Authorities should enforce the implementation of the ISPS code and encourage shipmaster and crew to exercise vigilance and maintain stringent watch keeping while at anchor.

Conclusion

  1. ReCAAP ISC will continue to work hard with the regional enforcement agencies, shipping industry and INTERPOL towards eradicating such maritime crime.
  2. The situation at Vung Tau Anchorage, Vietnam warrants collective and cooperative efforts  to prevent boarding by perpetrators interested in stealing ship stores.
  3. Inspite of the improvement in the situation in SOMS, the ship masters and crew transiting the area are advised to exercise enhanced vigilance and deploy extra watch keepers and look-outs.
  4. Additional caution to be taken to avoid escalation of incidents in terms of numbers or severity.

Source: ReCAAP