Monthly Piracy Report for January 2014

During January 2014 piracy activity increased in West Africa with the Oil Tanker Kerala hijacking taking place as far south as Luanda, Angola. From the four kidnappings that were reported during last month, the three of them took place in Nigeria while one occurred in Equatorial Guinea. On the other hand attacks (mostly robberies) in Southeast Asia were down in January 2014 from December 2013. Up until the date this report is being published the areas of maritime piracy related incidents worldwide are as follows:

• Arabian Sea: 1
• East Africa: 1
• South China Sea: 8
• West Africa: 3

Below is an overview of the piracy related incidents in areas where they occurred during last month.

The figures below are an extract from the monthly piracy report that is being released each month from Suritec. The full report developed by Suritec can be found by clicking HERE.

Figure above: Attacks East Africa and the HRZ – January 2014 (source: Suritec)

Figure above: Incidents in West Africa – January 2014 (source: Suritec)

Figure above: Incidents Southeast Asia – January 2014 (source: Suritec)

Figure above: Kerala Hijacking: Events 18 January to 7 February 2014 (source: Suritec)

PIRACY & ARMED ROBBERY REPORTS

Date: 2-Jan-14. Time: 0:02. Vessel type: LPG Tanker. Flag: Singapore. GRT: 5812. Position: 0° 59.00′ N – 8° 23.00′ E. Location: Around 55nm West of Corisco Island, Gabon. Area: West Africa. Five pirates boarded a drifting gas carrier. Alert crew raised the alarm and blew the ships horn resulting in the pirates escaping. OOW reported that there were a few tugboats and unlit fishing vessels without AIS in the vicinity.

Date: 3-Jan-14. Time: 3:40. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Italy. GRT: 39385. Position: 0° 17.15′ S – 117° 40.15′ E. Location: Muara Berau Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Three robbers armed with a gun boarded the ship carrying out loading operations at anchor. The A/B was taken hostage on routine rounds, he was tied up and his personal effects were stolen. The robbers then broke into the forecastle store, stole ship’s property and escaped. The A/B managed to untie himself and reported the incident to the duty officer.

Date: 3-Jan-14. Time: 5:30. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 8689. Position: 3° 57.00′ N – 98° 47.00′ E. Location: Belawan Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Robbers boarded an anchored tanker, ship’s properties were stolen.

Date: 6-Jan-14. Time: 15:15. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Panama. GRT: 22415. Position: 3° 55.00′ N – 98° 46.00′ E. Location: Belawan Outer anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a chemical tanker at anchor via the anchor chain. Alert crew spotted the robbers and raised the alarm resulting in the robbers escaping in their wooden boat without stealing anything. Ships in the vicinity alerted via VHF CH 16.

Date: 7-Jan-14. Time: 0:18. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Panama. GRT: 11628. Position: 7° 05.00′ S – 112° 39.00′ E. Location: Gresik Inner Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Two robbers boarded an anchored Chemical tanker. They caught the duty watch keeper, threatened him with a knife and stole ship’s stores. When robbers were noticed, alarm raised and crew mustered. Robbers then jumped overboard and escaped. All crew safe.

Date: 8-Jan-14. Time: 2:15. Vessel type: General cargo ship. Flag: United States. GRT: 7252. Position: 6° 20.00′ N – 10° 48.00′ W. Location: Monrovia port, Liberia. Area: West Africa. Duty watchman on board a berthed general cargo ship heard a loud noise near the stern. On approaching the location the watchman noticed a robber throwing ship’s properties overboard. Seeing the approaching crew the robber jumped overboard and escaped. Alarm raised and crew mustered. Upon investigation, it was found that the robber boarded the ship using a hook attached with a long pole and some ship’s properties were missing. Local authorities informed and a port security patrol boat came for investigation and recovered some of the stolen properties that were adrift near the stern of the ship.

Date: 9-Jan-14. Time: 19:35. Vessel type: NA. Flag: Liberia. GRT: 32672. Position: 3° 42.16′ S – 114° 26.59′ E. Location: Taboneo Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea
Eight robbers boarded an anchored ship via the anchor chain. Alert watchman sighted and shouted for help and alerted the duty officer. Seeing the alert ship’s crew, the robbers escaped without stealing anything. Incident reported to the local authorities and the agents.

Date: 10-Jan-14. Time: 0:00. Vessel type: Containership. Flag: Panama. GRT: 15184. Position: 6° 06.24′ S – 106° 53.40′ E. Location: Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Robbers boarded the berthed ship unnoticed and stole engine spares. The theft was noticed by the 3/E when the ship departed from the port.

Date: 16-Jan-14. Time: 4:00. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Hong Kong. GRT: 31760. Position: 6° 49.00′ S – 39° 17.00′ E. Location: Berth No.3, Dar Es Salaam Port. Area: East Africa While berthed robbers boarded the ship unnoticed, stole ship’s stores and escaped. Incident reported to the Port Authorities.

Date: 17-Jan-14. Time: 3:15. Vessel type: General cargo ship. Flag: Viet Nam. GRT: 42341. Position: 6° 02.00′ S – 106° 53.00′ E. Location: Tanjung Priok Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Four robbers armed with a gun and long knives in a small speed boat approached and boarded an anchored general cargo ship. They took hostage the duty watchman, entered into the engine room and held the duty engine room crew. The robbers stole engine spares and managed to escape in their boat upon hearing the alarm raised by the duty officer.

Date: 17-Jan-14. Time: 18:04. Vessel type: Product tanker. Flag: NA. GRT: 42341. Position: 15° 06.00′ N – 54° 23.00′ E. Location: Around 115nm South of Salalah, Oman. Area: Arabian Sea. Pirates in a skiff, launched from a mother vessel, approached and fired upon the tanker underway. Master raised alarm, increased speed, altered course, activated SSAS, contacted UKMTO and the non-essential crew members mustered in the citadel. The on board armed security team returned fire resulting in the pirates aborting the attack. A coalition helicopter came to the location to assist.

Date: 18-Jan-14. Time: NA. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Liberia. GRT: 42331. Position: NA. Location: Off Luanda Anchorage, Angola. Area: West Africa. The tanker was reported missing from Luanda anchorage on 18 Jan 2014 and suspected to be hijacked by pirates. All communications with the tanker had been lost. On 26 Jan 2014 the Master made contact with the owners reporting that the tanker had been released and that the pirates had stolen a large amount of cargo. One crew was reported injured during the hijacking.

Date: 18-Jan-14. Time: 2:00. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Panama. GRT: 9872. Position: 1° 06.15′ N – 104° 10.28′ E. Location: Eastern Batam anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Five robbers boarded the vessel and went to the engine room. OOW reported to the Singapore POCC and locked himself with members of crew in the bridge while, the robbers were still inside the engine room. Later, robbers left with some stores. RSC Tanjung Pinang arrived in area and contacted on VHF Ch 16.

The report can also be downloaded in .pdf format by clicking HERE and can be also found posted on Scribd by clicking HERE.

For up to date live and accurate information please refer to

1. ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS)
2. IMB Piracy News and Figures
3. IMB Live Piracy Report
4. IMB Piracy & Armed Robbery Map
5. IMO Global Integrated Shipping Information System
6. US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

Information and news regarding maritime piracy can also be found in the following websites:

1. Maritime Piracy-Humanitarian Response to Piracy (MPHRP): A pan-industry alliance working together with one aim of assisting seafarers and their families with the humanitarian aspects of a traumatic incident caused by a piracy attack etc. MPHRP offers related training courses and additional information can be found in the publications section of the website.
2. EU NAVFOR Somalia: Website of the the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia which was established in response to the rising levels of piracy and armed robbery off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean. The website offers interesting news related to maritime piracy.
3. Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa (MSCHOA): The Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) aims to provide a service to mariners in the Gulf of Aden, the Somali Basin and off the Horn of Africa. The website includes many valuable information to registered users such as vessel movements, live advice etc.
4. NATO Shipping Centre: The NATO Shipping Centre (NSC) is the link between NATO naval forces and the merchant shipping community.
5. Oceans Beyond Piracy: Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) is a project of the One Earth Future Foundation, a privately funded and independent non-profit organization located in Colorado, USA. OBP is a response to maritime piracy through the mobilization of industry stakeholders, public-private partnerships.
6. IMO’s Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships Information Webpage.
7. Save our Seafarers: An international, not-for-profit, anti-piracy campaign which was launched in March 2011 by a group of five influential maritime associations.
8. United Nations National Legislation on Piracy
9. Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI): SAMI is a global organisation representing companies working in the maritime security industry and a focal point for global maritime security matters.
10. BIMCO GUARDCON: Standard contract for the employment of security guards on vessels. This contract has been developed to provide ship owners and private maritime security companies (PMSC) with a clearly worded and comprehensive standard contract to govern the employment and use of security guards, with or without firearms, on board merchant vessels.
11. Piracy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) by International Group of P&I Clubs
12. Strengthening Maritime Security in West & Central Africa (IMO)

The Officer of the Watch would like to thank SURITEC their contribution to this month’s Maritime Piracy Report:

Suritec was established in 2001 by a group of professionals with the goal of applying our background and expertise in knowledge management and intelligence to develop software and other technology solutions. Suritec’s present clients range from government departments, parastatals, commercial companies in the mining and retail sector to specialized crime and risk prevention consultancies. Suritec issues monthly Maritime Piracy Reports summarizing events related to maritime piracy. We would like to thank Suritec and Mrs. Lydelle Joubert for their kind permission to include part of their report in the OOW Monthly Maritime Piracy Report.