Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2014)

12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • NOVEMBER 2014

While the issue of maritime piracy has largely fallen from the public eye, with the rapid evolution of the 24/7/365 news cycle and a never-ending list of new and globally interesting headlines, such as Ebola, there remains concerns of piracy’s effects on the broader maritime market, particularly in SE Asia.

According to the International Cham- ber of Commerce (ICC) International

Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report, maritime pirate attacks globally are down for three years running, but there is a worrisome trend of small tank- er hijacks by armed gangs escalating in

Southeast Asia.

The latest report reveals a total of 178 incidents so far this year, down from 352 for same period in 2011. In the ? rst nine months of 2014, pirates killed three crew, kidnapped ? ve from their vessels and took 369 seafarers hostage. A total of 17 vessels were hijacked, 124 were boarded and 10 were ? red upon. There were 27 further reports of attempted at- tacks. By location, Indonesia is far and away the worst area in 2014 with 72, followed by Bangladesh (15); Malaysia (15) and Nigeria (13).

Oil Thieves

IMB’s Piracy Reporting Center said gangs of thieves armed with knives and guns are making Southeast Asian waters increasingly dangerous for small tankers carrying products such as gasoil or ma- rine diesel oil. Boarding the ship at sea, pirates hold the crew hostage for a short time while they unload all or part of the cargo, which they then use, or sell local- ly. Of the six vessels hijacked worldwide in the third quarter of 2014, ? ve were in Southeast Asia. Looking at the chart of the types of ships attacked in the ? rst nine months of this year, Product Tanker is far and away the largest category with 44 attacks, followed by bulk carrier (34); chemical tanker (22); tanker (21); gen- eral cargo (14); containership (13) and

LPG Tanker (7). Indonesia recorded 72 incidents between January and Septem- ber, including 67 armed robberies and ? ve hijackings. In two separate hijack- ings off Pulau Bintan in September, 26 crew were taken hostage. Elsewhere in

Indonesia 59 vessels were boarded and there were eight attempted at- tacks. Waters off Pulau Bintan saw more attacks than any other area in the world, with 27 incidents reported. The incidents were low level thefts or attempted thefts from vessels at anchor or berthed. The report commends the efforts taken by the

Indonesian Marine Police in addressing the problem areas.

Hostages Remain in Somalia

With just 10 incidents reported so far in Somalia this year, there is a risk that international attention will turn away from the 40 hostages still being held for ransom by suspected Somali pirates. “Some of those crewmembers have been held captive there for more than four years now, with fading hopes of im- mediate release,” said Pottengal Mukun- dan, IMB Director, adding that seafarers should not underestimate the continuing threat of Somali piracy.

The number of incidents reported in

Nigeria has dropped noticeably, down to 13 in the ? rst nine months of 2014, from 29 in the same period last year. Else- where in the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana re- corded four incidents in 2014 compared with no incidents in 2013. This includes the hijacking of two product tankers – and theft of their cargoes – and a ? shing vessel and the taking hostage of 86 crew mem- bers.

NEWS & ANALYSIS Maritime Piracy

Attacks Down, But Regional Concerns Remain

MR #11 (10-17).indd 12 11/7/2014 11:40:19 AM