ReCAAP ISC Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia - January 2017 Report
ACCORDING to ReCAAP ISC latest report total of six incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia in January 2017. No incident of piracy was reported.
Of the six incidents, four were actual incidents and two were attempted incidents. Of concern was the continued occurrence of incidents involving the abduction of crew from ships while underway in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and waters off eastern Sabah. In January 2017, one actual incident and one attempted incident involving the abduction of crew were reported.
NUMBER OF INCIDENTS BY MONTH (JANUARY 2016 – JANUARY 2017)
In January 2017, six incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. This is a 40% decrease in the total number of incidents compared to January 2016. A total of 10 incidents were reported in January 2016. On a month-to-month comparison between January 2016 and January 2017 (Graph 1), the number of incidents has fluctuated throughout the period. There has been a continuous decrease in the total number of incidents in the past three months; from 12 incidents in November 2016 to seven incidents in December 2016 and six incidents in January 2017.
UPDATE ON SITUATION OF ABDUCTION OF CREW IN THE SULU-CELEBES SEA AND WATERS OFF EASTERN SABAH
Two incidents (comprising one actual incident and one attempted incident) involved the abduction of crew were reported in January 2017. Map 2 below shows the location of the two incidents and refer to the Appendix for the detailed description of these incidents.
RELEASE OF CREW - UPDATE
MV Dong Bang Giant 2. The ReCAAP Focal Point (Korea) and ReCAAP Focal Point (Philippines) reported to the ReCAAP ISC that the two abducted crew of MV Dong Bang Giant 2 were released on 14 Jan 17. The ship captain (Korean) and 2nd officer (Filipino) were abducted on 21 Oct 16 when the general cargo ship was underway in the vicinity waters of Bongao, Tawi-tawi while enroute to Korea from Australia. Six armed perpetrators abducted the two crew and left the remaining 18 crew (three Koreans and 15 Filipinos) on board.
UPDATE ON STATUS OF ABDUCTED CREW
Between March 2016 and January 2017, a total of 11 actual incidents involving the abduction of crew were reported to the ReCAAP ISC. Of these, 51 crew had been abducted during this 11-month period. As of January 2017, 35 crew had been released and 16 are still held in captivity.
CONCLUSION
The situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia continued to improve in January 2017. A total of six incidents were reported to the ReCAAP ISC, and this is a 40% decrease in total number of incidents compared to January 2016. No incident involving the hijacking of tanker for theft of oil cargo was reported in January 2017. The ReCAAP ISC commends the littoral States for their enhanced patrols and enforcement efforts, and the shipping industry for their vigilance and implementation of preventive counter-piracy measures. However, of serious concern was the continued occurrence of incidents involving the abduction of crew from ships while underway in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and waters off eastern Sabah.
Download the Full Report HERE
Source: ReCAAP ISC
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