According to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Center (ISC), 3 piracy incidents were reported in Asian waters in January 2019, a 73% decrease from the 11 incidents reported in Asia in January 2018. The situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia has greatly improved over the same period.
All three incidents reported in January 2019 occurred on moored ships, respectively at the Chewandan Anchorage in Indonesia and the Jingtang Port and Caofeidian Anchorage in China.
The first incident occurred on January 11, involving a general cargo ship under the Panamanian flag. While berthing, the personnel on duty found the door of the spare room had been broken, and he reported the incident to the chief engineer and the co-pilot. After inspection, it was found that the spare parts of the generator were lost. According to ReCAAP, the crew was not injured.
The second incident occurred on 12 January on an unnamed Hong Kong flag bulk carrier. At that time, two perpetrators armed with steel appliances boarded the ship from a boat and boarded the ship from the port area with ropes. Found by the crew, the perpetrators immediately fled empty-handed. ReCAAP said the crew was not injured.
The third incident involved FMG Northern Spirit, an ore airline flying the Hong Kong flag. When berthing, the crew on the bridge wing noticed the barge on the starboard quarter near the side of the ship and gave an alarm. As the crew rushed to the starboard side of the bridge wing, they noticed two perpetrators on board. They lowered the hose from starboard to the barge. Once the hose was lowered, the perpetrator would slide the rope tied to the gangway base onto the barge, where another perpetrator was waiting. The barge retreated and escaped. When looking at the area where the perpetrator was found, it was found that the voice cover of the MDO storage and MDO service tank had been opened. The MDO tank had oil stains around the sound tubes, but nothing was missing and the crew was not injured.
It is worth noting that according to ReCAAP's report, there were no reports of crew members kidnapped in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and the eastern Sabah Sea in January 2019. In addition, there have been no similar reports of hijacking ships to steal oil cargo.
But ReCAAP concluded that the potential threat of kidnapping crew for ransom in the waters of Sulu Celebes and eastern Sabah is a continuing threat to Asian waters in the future.
Source: cnss