5 Of 7 Incidents Against Ships Reported Occurred In Singapore Strait (Asia, April 2021): ReCAAP ISC

The number of incidents in April. A total of seven incidents (all actual incidents) were reported in Asia in April 2021. All were incidents of armed robbery against ships. There was no piracy incident. Of the seven incidents, five incidents occurred to ships underway in the Singapore Strait (SS), one incident onboard a ship berthed at MOT Terminal, Sandakan, East Malaysia and one incident onboard a ship anchored in Manila Bay, the Philippines.

With these incidents, a total of 24 incidents (comprising 23 actual incidents and one attempted incident) of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia during January-April 2021. This is a decrease of 38%, compared to the same period in 2020. A total of 39 incidents (comprising 38 actual incidents and one attempted incident) were reported during January-April 2020.

The severity of incidents. Of the 23 actual incidents during January-April 2021, one was a CAT 2 incident, seven were CAT 3 incidents and 15 were CAT 4 incidents (where the perpetrators were not armed and crew not harmed).

Image Credits: ReCAAP ISC

Incidents against Ships in the Singapore Strait (SS)

A total of 12 actual incidents were reported in the SS from January-April 2021

(11 incidents in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme and one incident in the westbound lane).

This is a decrease by 50%, compared to January-April 2020 (24 incidents). However, due to the continued occurrence of incidents in the SS, the Centre issued an Incident Alert (IA 03/2021) on 23 April to alert the shipping community of the recurring incidents in the SS, particularly off Tanjung Pergam, Bintan Island, Indonesia.

Incident Reporting

In April, the Centre received 10 new Incident/Amplifying Reports from the respective Focal/Contact Points.

Press Release

Source: Maritime Shipping News