Piracy Situation Risk Assessment, June 2014, Issue 26 Highlights of the Past Month:
Last month has seen the similar pirate activities comparing to the month before. The main sources reported at least 5 suspicious events in Indian Ocean/Red Sea area, two serious incidents near Nigeria, one incident near Sierra Leone and one attempt near Togo. There were 13 robberies or attempts reported including a major cargo theft from a tanker in South China Sea region.
A Thai diesel oil tanker with 14 crew members en route from Singapore to Indonesia was hijacked. The diesel oil tanker had lost contact with its owner after departing Singapore on Tuesday 27 May. Pirates hijacked and stole the tanker’s oil cargo onboard and destroyed the communication equipment. The crew and vessel are safe. In April, pirates injured the captain and stole diesel fuel from another Thailand-owned tanker off the eastern coast of Malaysia.
Experts are warning on the continuing rise of piracy in south-east Asia that cannot simply be halted by ramping up patrols in the global piracy hot spot. They argue that five factors are of particular importance in shaping piracy in south-east Asia: "overfishing, lax maritime regulations, the existence of organized crime syndicates, the presence of radical politically motivated groups in the region, and widespread poverty." As many as eight armed attacks by pirates took place in the Strait of Malacca and around Singapore in the first three months of this year, compared with one such attack in the same period the year before, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia. In April, armed pirates hijacked a Japanese oil tanker off the coast of Malaysia and stole about 3 million liters of diesel.
On 14 May, the Egyptian Army announced that it had seized 15 tons of explosive material from a town that straddles the Suez Canal. Five tons of the material was seized in a truck in Al Qantara East on the eastern bank of the canal, leading to a second seizure of 10 tons of the same material held in storage at an undisclosed location in Al Qantara West, on the opposite bank. In a short statement, the army said the truck was being driven by two men from the town of El-Arish, which borders the Gaza Strip at the eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula. The army gave no further details.
Two Somalis, linked to Al Shabaab, are suspected of having carried out a suicide bombing at a restaurant in Djibouti on filled with Western military personnel on Saturday 24 May that killed three and wounded at least 15. Several members of European Union naval and civilian maritime security missions were among those wounded in the attack, including three members of the Spanish military airforce.
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Latest major incidents: INDIAN OCEAN, RED SEA, PERSIAN GULF OMAN: 21 May – 24 48.3N 057 41E. At 0800 UTC a vessel reported the sighting of 2 skiffs, one with 4 POB, the other with 3 POB, all with masked faces and one person in each standing at the bow. The skiffs were initially detected at 4nm and continued to be tracked until one skiff approached to within 0.5nm when the AST fired two warnings shots, firing a further two at 0.4nm upon which the skiffs broke away. No ladders or weapons were sighted. (UKTMO)
RED SEA: 20 May – 12 52.5N 43 12.03E. At 0747 a vessel reported being approached by 4 skiffs with 3-4 POB to within 0.7nm. The skiffs circled around the vessel for approximately 20/30 minutes. No weapons or ladders were sighted. The security team showed weapons and the skiffs moved away. 20 May – 12 35.3N 043 20.4E. At 0827 UTC the same vessel as above reported a further 3 skiffs approaching to within 5 cables. Again the embarked security team showed weapons and the skiffs backed off. RED SEA: 9 May – 13 31.6 N 042 34.2 E. At 1045 UTC a vessel reported a suspicious skiff with 7 POB drifting ahead of the vessel. At 6 cables the AST showed weapons and the skiff moved away. No other tripwires were seen although a tripod structure was seen on the bow. (UKTMO)
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RED SEA: On 2 May, two skiffs made a 15 knot approach on an underway bulk carrier near position 15:45N – 041:26E, approximately 68 nm northwest of Al Hudaydah, Yemen. Ship’s Master raised the alarm, increased speed, altered course, activated fire hoses, and mustered crew members in the citadel while the onboard security team fired warning flares. When the skiffs closed to a distance of two tenths of a mile from the ship, the onboard armed security team fired warning shots at the skiffs, resulting in the skiffs moving away. (IMB)
WEST AFRICA TOGO: On 21 May, a boat with eight robbers armed with long knives attempted to board an anchored chemical tanker near position 06:03N – 001:14E, approximately 4nm south of Lome Port. Alert deck watch personnel the boat with the robbers and raised the alarm. Seeing alert crew and due to a moderate swell the robbers were unable to board the vessel and moved away. (IMB)
NIGERIA: On 13 May, two robbers boarded an anchored tanker near position 04:45N – 006:59E, Port Harcourt Anchorage. The robbers took two crewmembers hostage and threatened them with knives. The robbers released the crewmembers after stealing mooring ropes. Upon release, the crew raised the alarm and mustered on the bridge. While mustered on the bridge the crew smelled cargo gas and noticed a small craft alongside the vessel near the bow stealing cargo. Nigerian Navy contacted and ships in the vicinity warned on VHF Channel 16. The Navy responded by sending a small speed boat, which circled the vessel and then left. Robbers escaped and all crew safe. (IMB)
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SIERRA LEONE: On 5 May, two robbers armed with knives boarded a berthed bulk carrier at position 08:29N - 013:13W, Berth No.2, Freetown Port. The robbers took hostage the duty cadet on rounds. They then stole the aft mooring ropes before releasing the cadet and escaping. On being released the cadet informed the duty officer who raised the alarm. (IMB)
NIGERIA: On 4 May, three Dutch citizens and two Nigerian citizens were kidnapped near the settlement of Letugbene, a river community in Bayelsa State. The group was reportedly touring the area to promote work on a local hospital. They reportedly had local guides, but not an armed escort. Up to ten heavily armed bandits were involved in the kidnapping, utilizing several speedboats. The Nigerian citizens were later released, but the Dutch citizens are still being held. (Premium Times of Nigeria)
SOUTHEAST ASIA SINGAPORE - INDONESIA, May 31. A Thai diesel oil tanker with 14 crew members en route from Singapore to Indonesia was hijacked. Authorities lost contact with the MT Orapin 4 after it departed from a terminal in Singapore on May 27, according to a report by the IMB. It was headed for Pontianak, Indonesia. Pirates hijacked and stole the tanker’s oil cargo onboard and destroyed the communication equipment. The crew and vessel are safe now and the vessel arrived at Sri Racha Port in Thailand on Sunday. (Reuters, South China Morning Post) MALAYSIA: On 25 May, armed pirates boarded an underway tanker near position 01:51N – 104:31E, 30 nm south of Pulau Aur. They stole cash, crew personal effects and provisions while also damaging equipment before leaving the vessel. All crew safe and vessel continued her passage to the next port. (IMB)
INDONESIA: On 1 May at 0430 local time, a duty crewman on board an anchored general cargo ship saw a small boat approaching from astern near position : 01:24 N – 104:35 E, 10 nm north of Pulau Bintan. The small boat then came alongside carrying six robbers armed with handguns. Alarm raised and ship’s horn sounded. The robbers aborted the attempted boarding and moved away. (IMB) 4/5
Summary and recommendations:
Continuous suspicious activity by number of skiffs in vicinity of Strait of Bab elMandeb, Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Oman advises to keep extreme caution and alertness within those areas. The possible pirates are likely monitoring and are ready to take action on unprotected vessels. The recent hijack and theft of cargo from the tanker in Malaysian waters indicates the possible pattern of a more sophisticated criminal group activity in the area. The exact details of the last incident are not known by the date but extreme caution and vigilant watch keeping needs to be rehearsed within the whole region. The piracy incidents, more serious than random theft, show signs of rise. Despite the likely stabilizing situation in Egypt the extremist groups still do exist and are preparing actions against the new rule. The found explosives near Suez Canal are worrying signs to the international fleet passing Suez Canal. The vessels are advised to minimize the exposure of the crew on deck while passing the Canal. The attack against restaurant used by Western military personnel in Djibouti is an indication of the will and determination of terrorist groups to intimidate the Western efforts against insurgency and pro-stability in Somalia. All Westerners are advised to minimize their presence in public places and unprotected areas.
Sources: ICC, NATO, ONI, NGA, UKMTO, Oceanus Live, Shipping Position, Maritime Bulletin, Marsecreview, Reuters, CNN, BBC, NYT, Al Jazeera, All Africa, cCaptain, Hellenic Shipping News, Want China Times, DefenceWeb, New Straits Times, Sahara Reporters, IHS Maritime, Maritime Security Asia, Handy Shipping Guide, International Business Times etc.
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