Marine Fuel Theft Driving Rise in Global Ship Hijackings

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday January 16, 2015

The International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says fuel theft is driving a rise in global ship hijackings, Platts reports.

"The global increase in hijackings is due to a rise in attacks against coastal tankers in South East Asia," said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB.

"Gangs of armed thieves have attacked small tankers in the region for their cargoes, many looking specifically for marine diesel and gas oil to steal and then sell."

Total global attacks fell from 264 in 2013 to an eight year low of 245 this year, but 21 hijackings occurred in 2014 compared with 12 in 2013.

The areas around Pulau Bintan and the South China Sea were highlights as areas of active piracy after 11 hijackings were reported there in 2014.

Indonesia remains an area of intense activity with 100 reported pirate attacks in 2014, while Malaysia trails in second place with 24 reported attacks.

Tankers were, globally, the most attacked vessels and bulk carriers were in second place, attracting 59 and 55 attacks respectively.

While Somali pirate attacks fell in 2014, the IMB said it believes that "a single successful hijacking of a merchant vessel will rekindle the Somali pirates' appetite to resume its piracy efforts."

Intertanko has labelled the rise in attacks in South East Asia as "significant and worrying."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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