Situation of Piracy and Sea Robbery in Asia for April 2020

ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre today issued its April 2020 Report on the situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia. A summary is appended.  

Summary

A total of nine incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia in April 2020

Of the nine incidents, one was a piracy incident and eight were incidents of armed robbery against ships

There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah in April 2020

• However, the abduction of crew for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah remains a serious concern
  

 ReCAAP ISC is also concerned about the continued occurrence of incidents on board ships while underway in the Singapore Strait

• With three incidents reported in April 2020, a total of 12 incidents have been reported in the Singapore Strait since January 2020
  
• Of the 12 incidents, 11 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) and one incident in the precautionary area in the Singapore Strait
  
• ReCAAP ISC has issued an Incident Alert (IA/04/2020) on 30 Apr 20 on the three incidents which occurred during 16-30 Apr to ships while underway in the Singapore Strait

Number of Incidents

• In April 2020, nine incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported
  
• All were actual incidents
  
• No attempted incident was reported
  
• All incidents have been verified and reported to ReCAAP ISC by ReCAAP Focal Points
  
• On a month-to-month comparison, the number of total incidents reported in April 2020 is lower than the monthly number of incidents in 2020, except for the preceding month of March 2020