ReCAAP January 2015 Report; Decrease in Piracy Incidents
IN ITS latest report, RECAAP ISC states that a total of 10 incidents of robbery onboard ships were reported in Asia in January 2015. No piracy incidents were reported. There has been a continuous decrease in the number of incidents reported in the past three consecutive months, from 21 incidents in October 2014 to 10 in January 2015. 
The number of incidents reported in January 2015 has increased compared to the past two years (January of 2013-2014).
Incidents
Of the 10 incidents reported in January 2015, two were Category 1 (very significant) incidents, three were Category 2 (moderately significant) incidents, one was a Category 3 (less significant) incident and four were petty theft (minimum significant) incidents. In comparison, the incidents reported in January 2015 were relatively more severe because of two Category 1 incidents reported in January 2015 while there was no Category 1 incident throughout the past four years of January (2011- 2014). Also except for January 2013, the number of Category 2 incidents was fairly consistent among the five year reporting period.
Category 1 Incidents
Both Category 1 incidents occurred onboard chemical tankers carrying fuel. The first incident involved Sun Birdie, where the perpetrators boarded the tanker off Malaysia, but were later apprehended by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). The second incident involved the hijacking of MT ‘Rehobot’ which is still missing at the time of this report.
Conclusion
While the number of incidents involving siphoning of ship fuel/oil at sea continued, no successful siphoning was reported since November 2014 till January 2015; and this was attributed to timely reporting by the shipping industry, vigilance exercised by master and crew, enhanced enforcement and speedy responses by the authorities. As demonstrated in the incident onboard Sun Birdie, timely reporting by the owner and immediate responses by the MMEA resulted in the arrest of the perpetrators and safeguarding the safety of the crew.
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