Asia/Pacific News
Swedish Club Calls for Extra Vigilance in Singapore Straits
The Swedish Club has called on the maritime community to be extra vigilant when operating in the Singapore Straits.
The marine insurer's member alert follows a string of attacks last month, which saw six ships travelling in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore targeted by armed individuals all within a 30 hour period.
"Whilst there have been a number of attacks on smaller, slow moving coastal tankers with low freeboards, carrying Bunker and Petrochemical Products recently, these latest attacks differ as they were perpetrated on larger vessels that were underway in the Singapore Straits at the time and appear to have been intended to enable petty thefts, rather than the wholesale theft of cargoes," the Club said.
"Ship operators may wish to advise their Officers and Crew to be extra vigilant."
Last month Ship & Bunker reported at the time of the attacks that three tankers, two containerships, and one bulker were attacked.
