Situation of piracy and sea robbery in Asia in January 2021

•  In January 2021, seven incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia

•  No piracy incident was reported

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

o   In January 2021, three incidents were reported in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait

o   The incidents occurred in close proximity to each other, and in particular, two incidents occurred within an interval of four hours

o   ReCAAP ISC has issued an Incident Alert [IA 01/2021] on 29 Jan to alert the shipping community of the situation in the Singapore Strait

•  There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah in January 2021

o   However, the risk of the abduction of crew remains high as demonstrated by the abduction of crew incident on 17 Jan 20 (with four crew still held in captivity), information of planned kidnapping (as reported in ReCAAP ISC’s Warning issued on 7 Jul 20), and the military operation on 3 Nov 20 by the Philippines authorities in preventing a kidnap-for-ransom incident