2 Of 3 Armed Robbery Incidents Against Ships In Asia Reported In Singapore Strait: ReCAAP (Feb. 2021)

In February 2021, three incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. No piracy incident was reported. The ReCAAP ISC is concerned with the continued occurrence of incidents onboard ships while underway in the Singapore Strait. In February 2021, two incidents were reported in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait.

There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah in February 2021. However, the risk of the abduction of the crew remains high as demonstrated by the abduction of crew incident on 17 Jan 20 (with four crew still held in captivity), information of planned kidnapping (as reported in ReCAAP ISC’s Warning issued on 2 Jul 20), and the operation on 3 Nov 20 by the Philippines authorities in preventing a kidnap-for-ransom incident.

FEBRUARY 2021

NUMBER OF INCIDENTS

In February 2021, three incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. All incidents were actual incidents. No attempted incident was reported. All incidents have been verified and reported to the ReCAAP ISC by ReCAAP Focal Points. Refer to the
Appendix for the ‘Description of incidents (February 2021)’ on pages 21-22.

Image Credits: ReCAAP

STATUS OF SHIPS

Of the three incidents reported in February 2021, two incidents occurred on board ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in Singapore Strait, and one incident occurred onboard a ship while berthed at Jakarta Port, Indonesia.

SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL OF INCIDENTS

All three incidents reported in February 2021 were CAT 4 incidents (where the perpetrators were not armed and crew not harmed).

Of the three incidents, two incidents occurred to tug boats towing barges while underway in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait. In both incidents, perpetrators boarded the barges from small boats and stole items from the barges. The barges were not manned.

Image Credits: ReCAAP

The other incident occurred onboard a container ship while berthed at Jakarta Port, Indonesia. The perpetrators boarded the ship unnoticed, broke the padlock hinge for the passageway door leading to the engine room, and stole engine spare parts.

Chart 1 shows the significance level of incidents reported each month from February 2020 to February 2021.

LOCATION OF INCIDENTS

The location of the three incidents reported in February 2021 is shown in Map 1.

Image Credits: ReCAAP

Press Release | ReCAAP

Source: Maritime Shipping News