Asia/Pacific News
Asia Piracy Down in October But 2015 Still on Course to Hit a Five Year High
Piracy and armed robbery in Asian waters was down in October and for two consecutive months there have been no incidences of hijacking for oil, the latest ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre report states.
The October 2015 report says, "Comparing to past two months, there has been an improvement in the situation of piracy and armed robbery against ship in Asia in October 2015."
Last month saw 13 incidents of armed robbery compared to 18 in September of this year and no piracy incidents.
But a longer view of crime on the high seas is less rosy: according to ReCAPP, for the first ten months of 2015, a total of 174 incidents (including 12 attempted incidents) have been reported, which is higher than the annual number of incidents reported in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
So far, 2015's 10-month incident rate is lower than that of 2014's, but ReCAPP points out that if the average of 17 incidents reported monthly continues for the rest of this year, then 2015's final tally will be higher than 2014's grand total.
Of last month's 13 incidents, seven took place in Singapore's Straits of Malacca; two at Kandla and Sikka, India; one at Belawane, Indonesia; one at Sandakan, East Malaysia; one at Davao, Philippines; and one at Cai Lan, Vietnam.
While ReCAPP singles out the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency for foiling one October robbery (on the 15th of the month, aboard the Liberia-registered tanker Almi Spirit) and says October's incidents are a 48 percent and 28 percent decrease compared to the number of incidents in August and September respectively, it advises ship crews to "exercise vigilance, coordinate and report all piracy and sea robbery incidents to the nearest coastal State."
It adds: "littoral States are to step up their patrols/presence and beef up surveillance."
The ReCAPP report dovetails findings earlier this year from Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), which in June said that Southeast Asian piracy is "especially dangerous for seafarers" given the quantity of 2014 attacks and the 90 percent success rate of pirates in boarding targeted vessels.
