ReCAAP: 11 Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships In Asia During November

Posted to the Hellenic Shipping News (Dec 11, 2020): ReCAAP: 11 Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships In Asia During November

In November 2020, 11 incidents of armed robbery against ships¹ were reported in Asia. No piracy² incident was reported. With these incidents, the total number of incidents from January to November 2020 was 95 incidents, which represents an increase of 36% compared to the same period of 2019 (70 incidents).The ReCAAP ISC is concerned with the overall increase of incidents in Asia, particularly the continued occurrence of incidents (robberies and thefts) in the Singapore Strait. Six incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait in November 2020.

With these, a total of 34 incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait during January-November 2020 comprising 30 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), two incidents in the precautionary area, one incident in the westbound lane of the TSS and one incident just outside (south) of the TSS. There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah, Malaysia in November 2020. However, the abduction of crew for ransom remains a serious concern as demonstrated by the Warning issued on 2 July by the ReCAAP ISC on a planned abduction of crew by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), and a kidnap-for-ransom plan of ASG members thwarted by the Joint Task Force of Sulu on 3 November.

NOVEMBER 2020NUMBER OF INCIDENTS

In November 2020, 11 incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. All incidents were actual incidents³. No attempted incident⁴ was reported. All incidents have been verified and reported to the ReCAAP ISC by ReCAAP Focal Points and regional authorities. Refer to the Appendix for the ‘Description of incidents (November 2020)’ on pages 24-28.

Source: ReCAAP

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/recaap-11-piracy-and-armed-robbery-against-ships-in-asia-during-november/