One Coastal Tanker Hijacked Every Two Weeks in Southeast Asia

piracy_lo-resA small coastal tanker is hijacked by pirates in South East Asia every two weeks on average, a report from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed.

South East Asia accounts for 55 percent of the world’s 54 piracy and armed robbery incidents since the start of 2015.

After a steady drop in global piracy over the last few years, attacks rose 10 percent in the first quarter of 2015 on the same period of 2014.

Worldwide, pirates took 140 hostages in the first three months of 2015, three times as many as during the same period in 2014. A total of 13 seafarers were assaulted and three injured.

In West Africa, a hotspot for violent piracy, one man was killed in the hijacking of a fishing vessel off Ghana. Five crew members were kidnapped by Nigerian pirates in two separate incidents in addition to a small product tanker being reported hijacked.

IMB has recorded 23 ship hijackings in South East Asia since April 2014, with six taking place in the last three months. Most are carried out by armed gangs targeting small coastal tankers to steal their cargoes of fuel. Five tankers and an offshore tug have been hijacked in the first quarter.

“The frequency of these hijackings in South East Asia is an increasing cause for concern. There’s a risk that the attacks and violence could increase if left unabated,” said Pottengal Mukundan, director of IMB, which has been monitoring world piracy since 1991.

Malaysian authorities have detained one gang of hijackers now awaiting trial. IMB has commended this action and calls for a stronger, coordinated regional response to clamp down on piracy in South East Asian waters.

The country with the highest number of attacks is Indonesia, accounting for almost 40 percent of 2015 attacks, with two vessels hijacked and 19 vessels boarded. IMB reports that the overwhelming majority of incidents are low-level, opportunistic thefts, although the attackers here are usually armed with knives, machetes or guns.

With eight reports in the past three months alone, Vietnam has seen an increase in armed robbery incidents. More and more thieves are breaking into ships at anchor in and around Hai Phong and Vung Tau.

The IMB Piracy Report shows zero incidents for Somalia in the first quarter of 2015. However, it advises shipmasters to follow the industry’s Best Management Practices, as the threat of Somali piracy has not been totally eliminated.

Staff Contact:   Megan Giblin

Senior Director, Customs and Trade Facilitation
Tel: 202.371.9235

Megan Giblin manages USCIB’s work on customs and trade facilitation and anti-illicit trade policy, covering both government affairs and policy for ATA Carnet, and provides support on trade and investment policy, handling issue management, policy development, and staff support for USCIB committees and working groups. Additionally, she had served as, and now manages, USCIB engagement as an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) representative to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized Systems Committee and HS Review Subcommittee. Giblin was also recently re-appointed to serve as a cleared advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on the Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC) on Customs and Trade Facilitation Matters. Giblin has more than two decades of both public and private-sector experience, focused on customs, trade facilitation, trade policy and advocacy. She has served as business operations manager in Hewlett-Packard Company’s global trade department, working on customs, trade policy and trade facilitation matters. Giblin earned an MBA in international management and a Chinese studies certificate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and holds a bachelor’s degree in French and Spanish from Illinois State University. She has lived and studied extensively in Western Europe and the Far East.
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