Monthly Piracy Report November 2012

All information presented below are retrieved from ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) and are being updated on a monthly basis. For up to date live and accurate information please refer to ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) website.

• Total Attacks Worldwide: 278
• Total Hijackings Worldwide: 27
• Total Incidents in Somalia: 71
• Total Hijackings in Somalia: 13
• Total Hostages in Somalia: 212
  
• Vessels held by Somali Pirates: 9
• Hostages held by Somali Pirates: 147

For a geographical representation of pirate attacks location please refer to IMB Piracy & Armed Robbery Map, a very valuable tool that shows all the piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre during 2012. If exact coordinates are not provided, estimated positions are shown based on information provided. Zoom-in and click on the pointers to view more information of an individual attack. Pointers may be superimposed on each other.

PIRACY & ARMED ROBBERY REPORTS until last week of November

• 30.11.2012: 0145 LT: Posn: Cochin Outer Anchorage, India. Three robbers in a wooden boat approached and boarded an anchored tanker. They broke into the forecastle store and stole ship’s stores. Duty crew heard some noises in the fore peak store, checked and found the door’s lock broken and informed D/O who raised the alarm. On hearing the alarm, the robbers escaped with the stolen ship stores. Coast guard and port control informed.
• 30.11.2012: 2250 UTC: Posn: 06:02.3N – 001:18.3E, Lome Anchorage, Togo. Four robbers in a blue and white coloured skiff approached an anchored product tanker. Armed guards onboard the tanker found the intention of the skiff aggressive and fired a warning shot. The skiff aborted the approach and moved away. Master called the Togo navy but received no response. At 2305 UTC, the skiff along with three similar skiffs approached the tanker at high speed from the bow, mid-ship and stern. The armed guards fired two warning shots in the air which were ignored by the skiffs which closed to the ship side and then moved along the ship side on towards the stern. Only when the armed team fried more warning shots did the skiffs move away. The Master heaved up the anchor and sailed further away from the anchorage area to drift. At 2320 UTC, Togo navy responded and the Master reported the incident to the navy.
• 30.11.2012: 0110 LT: Posn: 01:26.24N – 104:34.05E, Around 12nm north of Bintan Island, Indonesia. Nine pirates armed with long knives boarded an anchored tug from astern and took the duty watchman as hostage. The pirates then went to the bridge and stole stole crew personal belongings, cash and vessel’s navigation equipment and escaped in around 20 minutes. During the incident, two crew members were slightly injured.
• 29.11.2012: 2235 LT: Posn: 06:01.5S – 106:54.0E, Tanjung Priok Anchorage, Indonesia. Three robbers boarded a chemical tanker at anchor. Robbers were sighted at poop deck, alarm raised and all crew mustered. Seeing alert crew the robbers escaped with stolen ship’s stores. All crew safe.
• 27.11.2012: 0405 LT: Posn: 00:18.52S – 117:40.00E, Samarinda Anchorage, Indonesia.
• Robbers armed with long knife boarded an anchored bulk carrier. Duty watchman noticed the robbers who threatened him with a long knife and warned him not to approach any closer. Duty watchman alerted the Chief Officer who raised the alarm and alerted the crew. On seeing the alert crew the robbers escaped with stolen ship’s stores. No reply received from port authority and agent onboard vessel indicated that theft was normal at Samarinda.
• 27.11.2012: 1950 LT: Posn: 03:55.9N – 098:45.8E, Belawan Anchorage, Indonesia. Four armed robbers boarded an anchored chemical tanker via the anchor chain. They attempted to attack the duty A/B who managed to escape and inform the OOW. By the time the crew mustered the robbers had escaped with stolen ship’s stores. Attempts to contact and report incident to port authority were unsuccessful. All crew safe.
• 25.11.2012: 0510 LT: Posn: 10:18.4N – 075:33.6W, Cartagena Anchorage, Colombia. Robbers boarded an anchored product tanker, stole ship’s stores from the forward store and escaped unnoticed. The crew on duty noticed the theft and reported the incident to port control and coast guard.
• 24.11.2012: 0055 LT: 01:27.6S – 116:47.3E, Lawe Lawe Anchorage, Balikpapan, Indonesia. Robbers boarded an anchored crude oil tanker, stole ship’s stores from the forward store and escaped unnoticed. The crew on duty noticed the forward store door open and observed two boats moving away from the tanker. The incident were reported to port control and CSO.
• 21.11.2012: 2223 LT: Posn: 06:01S – 106:55E, East Cargo Anchorage Jakarta, Indonesia. Five robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored ship via the poop deck. They attacked and took hostage the duty A/B and stole engine spares. When the A/B failed to respond to the radio calls the duty officer raised the alarm resulting in the robbers escaping.
• 21.11.2012: 0500LT: Posn: 01:42.92S: 116:38.04E, Adang Bay Anchorage, Indonesia. Robbers boarded an anchored bulk carrier carrying out loading operations via a barge. The robbers attacked and tied up the Bosun on his routine rounds of the forecastle. They stole personal effects of the bosun, broke into and stole ships stores from the forward locker. The robbers were noticed by alert Master and crew on bridge who raised the alarm resulting in the robbers escaping.
• 18.11.2012: 0500 LT: Posn: 03:17.02N – 109:05.38E, South China Sea. A laden chemical tanker enroute from Pasir Gudang to Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia was boarded and hijacked by a gang of 11 pirates. The crew of the tanker were set adrift in a life raft and the tanker deviated towards Vietnam. When the owners could not get in touch with the tanker, the owners contacted the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre which immediately relayed the message to all authorities in the vicinity and broadcast the message to all ships in the ocean region. The IMB PRC then continuously liaised with the owners and the Vietnam authorities on the location of the tanker. The Vietnam Marine Police intercepted the tanker and detained all the pirates and escorted the tanker to a port for further investigations. The crew of the tanker were rescued by passing fishing vessels and safely landed ashore at Vung Tau.
• 17.11.2012: 0900 UTC: 07:05.46S – 112:39.48E, Surabaya Inner Anchorage, Indonesia. Armed pirates in two speed boats, seven in one boat and three in the other, boarded an anchored general cargo ship. Alert crew raised the alarm, mustered and started approaching the robbers who were seen escaping. No injuries to crew.
• 16.11.2012: 0150 LT: Posn: 03:55.9N – 098:48.4E, 7.4nm East of Nipahlarangan, Belawan, Indonesia. Three robbers armed with knives and iron bars boarded an anchored chemical tanker. They stole ship’s stores and escaped. Master raised alarm, crew mustered and contacted port authorities but received no response.
• 11.11.2012: 0150 LT: Posn: 01:19.3N – 104:17.8E, Around 2nm SSW of Pulau Mungging, Malaysia. Robbers armed with long knives boarded an anchored product tanker and took hostage the crew. They then threatened the crew to assist in the transfer of the bunkers into another vessel. During the oil transfer operation, the robbers went through the accommodation and store rooms stealing the personnel effects of the crew, ship’s equipments, engine spares, and provision stores. At around 0620 LT, the robbers disembarked from the tanker and warned the crew not to come to the deck for two hours. After around 30 minutes the crew members untied themselves and proceeded to the bridge and informed VTIS Singapore and their managers.
• 06.11.2012: 1930 LT: Posn: 01:44.58N – 106:11.42E, Around 58nm South of Pulau Airabu, Anambas Islands, Indonesia. Ten robbers armed with long knives boarded a tugboat towing a barge enroute from Port Klang to Kuching. One of the crew member has been assaulted. The robbers stole crew members personal belongings, cash and vessel’s document and certificates before escaping. The incident was reported to the owners and the Master lodge a police report upon arrival at Kuching, Malaysia on Nov 08th 2012.
• 03.11.2012: 2100 LT: Posn: 06:00.4S – 106:54.6E, Jakarta Anchorage, Indonesia. Four robbers in a small boat approached the stern of an anchored container ship. One robber boarded the ship using a hook attached with rope while the other three robbers remained in their boat. Deck watchmen spotted the robber and raised the alarm. Seeing crew alertness the robber escaped empty handed.
• 02.11.2012: 0415 – 0545 LT: Posn: 01:41.8S – 116:38.1E, Adang Bay Anchorage, Indonesia. Robbers boarded an anchored bulk carrier unnoticed and stole ship’s stores from the forward store and escaped unnoticed. The theft was noticed during the handing over watch and reported to authorities.