TWENTY-EIGHT incidents of armed robbery and piracy took place in Asia during the first six months of the year aboard ships, down 32 per cent year on year - the lowest number among the 13-year period (2007-2019) of January to June
TWENTY-EIGHT incidents of armed robbery and piracy took place in Asia during the first six months of the year aboard ships, down 32 per cent year on year - the lowest number among the 13-year period (2007-2019) of January to June. The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia, abbreviated as ReCP which include the Information Sharing Centre (ISC), said that of the total 28 incidents reported from January to June 2019, 25 were actual incidents while three were attempted cases. Twenty-six of the incidents (93 per cent) were armed robbery against ships and two (7 per cent) were piracy.
In terms of severity, there was one Category 1 incident, two Category 2 incidents, two Category 3 incidents and 20 Category 4.
ReCP said that during the six-month period there were no incidents of theft of oil cargo. There was also a decrease in the number of incidents at ports and anchorages in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and South China Sea.
There was one actual incident of abduction of crew on June 18, but the nine abducted crew have since been released.
However, ReCP pointed out that there was an increase in the number of incidents in the Singapore Strait (from 5 cases in January-June 2018 to 8 cases in the first six months of 2019).
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