Situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia: October 2020

In October 2020, nine incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. No piracy incident was reported. With these incidents, the total number of incidents from January to October 2020 was 84 incidents, which represents an increase of 35% compared to the same period of 2019 (62 incidents).

ReCAAP ISC is concerned with the overall increase of incidents in Asia, and particularly with the continued occurrence of incidents (robberies and thefts) in the Singapore Strait:

•  Six incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait in October 2020

•  With these, a total of 28 incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait during January-October 2020 comprising

o   24 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS)

o   Two incidents in the precautionary area

o   One incident in the westbound lane of the TSS and one incident just outside (south) of the TSS