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SINGAPORE – More piracy cases have been reported in the Singapore Strait in 2020 than in all of last year.
Two more incidents last week brought this year’s total to 33, surpassing the 31 reported in 2019.
On Monday (November 23) the Information Sharing Center of the Regional Cooperation Agreement to Combat Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) released a special report to alert the shipping industry.
He warned law enforcement agencies about “the current worrying situation in the Straits of Singapore”, and provided ideas and recommendations to industry actors and authorities in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
The 105 km long strait south of Singapore is a key waterway for trade and passes through the territorial jurisdictions of the three countries.
On November 17, the Asia Spring bulk carrier was passing through the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Straits en route to China, when three intruders were spotted on the main deck, the Information Exchange Center said. ReCAAP.
The ship’s alarm was raised and the crew assembled. The three perpetrators escaped through the stern of the ship.
“The captain reported the incident to Singapore’s Ship Traffic Information System. Nothing was stolen and the crew was not injured. The ship did not require assistance and proceeded on its way to China,” the center said.
The Maritime Safety Working Group of the Singapore Navy and the Singapore Police Coast Guard were informed.
Indonesian authorities were also notified and a safety navigation transmission was sent to sailors at sea.
Two days later, on November 19, the chemical tanker and oil tanker MTM Amsterdam was also traveling through the eastbound lane of the TSS en route to China when two knife-wielding perpetrators were spotted on the aft deck, an open deck area. in the back of the Embarcacion.
The alarm was immediately raised and a search was carried out aboard the ship.
But the perpetrators had escaped undetected, nothing was stolen and the crew was unharmed.
The ship’s captain reported the incident to Singapore’s Vessel Traffic Information System, and the ship continued its journey to China.
The Singapore Navy and the Singapore Police Coast Guard, along with the Malaysian and Indonesian authorities, were informed.
The ReCAAP center noted that the 33 incidents between January and November represent a 43 percent increase compared to the same period last year, when there were 23.
Although most were at “a low level of gravity”, the center said it is “seriously concerned” by the continuing cases of piracy on the key waterway.
He explained that most are CAT 4 incidents, which means that the perpetrators were not armed and the crew was unharmed.
“In some incidents, the perpetrators persisted in committing crimes by boarding two ships in a row in a short and very close interval,” the agency said.
He urged ship captains and crew members to be vigilant and immediately report all incidents or suspicious small vessels in the immediate vicinity to the nearest coastal state.
Littoral states should also increase patrols and law enforcement in their respective waters, and share information about the situation and the criminal groups involved so they can arrest the perpetrators, the ReCAAP center said.
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