Timely Reporting and Vigilance Thwarts Asia Bunker Pirate Activity in November and December 2014

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday March 2, 2015

Although incidents involving the siphoning of fuel at sea have continued, "no successful siphoning was reported since November 2014 till January 2015," according to The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). 

"This was attributed to timely reporting by the shipping industry, vigilance exercised by master and crew, enhanced enforcement and speedy responses by the authorities," the group said in its January 2015 report. 

Highlighted was the hijacking of the Malaysian-registered chemical tanker, Sun Birdie, which was attacked late January holding 700 metric tons of marine fuel oil. 

The ship was found the day after contact was lost by Malaysian authorities, who arrested seven perpetrators aboard the ship and two other suspects who had jumped overboard in an attempt to flee.

According to the report, the number of incidents of robbery and piracy have also declined from 21 cases in October 2014 to 10 in January 2015, though the latter figure is still higher than January numbers in the previous two years.

The MT Rehobot was another chemical tanker which was hijacked by bunker pirates late in January, having held 1,100 tonnes of diesel at the time. 

It was reported last week that the ship had been found aground in the Southern Philippines. 

Ship & Bunker News Team
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