Monthly Piracy Report August 2013

On a monthly basis the Officer of the Watch Blog publishes a report regarding maritime piracy incidents. The report focuses mainly in vessels of the Merchant Navy (Bulk Carrier, Chemical Tankers, Containerships etc). Up until the date this report is being published the figures of maritime piracy related incidents worldwide is as follows:

• Total Incidents Worldwide: 176
  
• Total Hijackings Worldwide: 10
  
• Somali related Incidents: 10
  
• Vessels held by Somali Pirates: 4
  
• Hostages held by Somali Pirates: 57
  
• Nigeria related Incidents: 28

A PDF version of this post is also available by clicking the following link in order to download OOW Piracy Monthly Report for August 2013. The PDF version of this report can be also found in the OOW profile in Scribd by clicking HERE.

Below is an overview of the piracy related incidents in areas where they occurred during last month. The regions/areas mentioned below are the same areas that are being mentioned within the US ONI monthly report (North America, West Africa, Persian Gulf etc.).

PIRACY & ARMED ROBBERY REPORTS until last week of August

Date: 28.08.2013. Time: 2330 LT. Position: 20° 56.00′ N – 107° 19.00′ E, Cam Pha Anchorage, Vietnam, South China Sea, South East Asia. Vessel type: Bulk Carrier. Six robbers boarded an anchored bulk carrier via the anchor chain and hawse pipe by removing the cover and anchor lashing. They cut open the padlock to the forecastle store and stole ship’s properties. Duty officer noticed the robbers and raised the alarm. Hearing the alarm, the robbers escaped with stolen ship stores. Incident reported to the local police who boarded the ship for investigation.

Date: 27.08.2013. Time: 2025 LT. Position: 22° 11.00′ N – 091° 42.00′ E, Chittagong Anchorage, Bangladesh, Bay of Bengal, South East Asia. Vessel type: Containership. 16 robbers in two boats approached an anchored container ship. Five robbers armed with long knives boarded the ship and began to lower ship’s stores into their boats. Duty officer noticed the robbers, raised the alarm and crew mustered. Seeing crew alertness the robbers escaped with stolen ship stores. Incident reported to the coast guard.

Date: 23.08.2013. Time: 1125 LT. Position: 03° 47.00′ N – 098° 42.00′ E, Belawan Port, Indonesia, South East Asia. Vessel type: Livestock Carrier. Three robbers in a motor boat approached a berthed live stock carrier. Two robbers boarded the ship while the other robber remained in the boat. Duty crew noticed that the robbers were stealing ship’s properties and reported to the D/O who raised the alarm and alerted the crew. Seeing crew alertness the robbers escaped with the stolen properties. Incident reported to Belawan Port Authority which dispatched a coast guard patrol boat to investigate.

Date: 23.08.2013. Time: N/A. Position: 0° 16.00′ S – 117° 36.00′ E, Muara Berau Anchorage, Indonesia, South East Asia. Vessel type: Bulk Carrier. Five robbers, armed with knives, boarded an anchored bulk carrier. Three of the robbers caught the duty crewman, threatened him with a knife on his neck, took his walkie-talkie, and tied him up. The robbers broke the lock of the forward store and began to steal ship’s stores. While the robbers were busy stealing the ship’s stores, the duty crewman managed to free himself and then reported to the duty officer on the bridge who raised the alarm and alerted the crew. Upon hearing the alarm, the robbers escaped with stolen stores. The incident was reported to port control.

Date: 23.08.2013. Time: 0400 LT. Position: 1° 15.60′ S – 117° 36.10′ E, Samarinda Anchorage, Indonesia, South East Asia. Vessel type: Bulk Carrier. Deck cadet on duty noticed the bosun forward store had been forced open. He immediately informed the OOW and C/O. The store was inspected and it was noted that ship’s stores had been stolen. Local authorities informed.

Date: 16.08.2013. Time: 0330 LT. Position: 0° 16.90′ S – 117° 36.50′ E, Muara Berau Anchorage, Indonesia, South East Asia. Vessel type: Bulk Carrier. Five robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored bulk carrier. Three of the robbers caught the duty A/B, threatened him with a knife on his neck, took his walkie-talkie and tied him up. The robbers broke the lock of the forward store and began to steal ship’s stores. While the robbers were busy stealing the ship’s stores, the duty A/B managed to free himself and reported to the OOW on the bridge who raised the alarm and alerted the crew. Upon hearing the alarm, the robbers escaped with stolen stores. Incident reported to port control.

Date: 16.08.2013. Time: 0238 LT. Position: 22° 10.00′ N – 91° 42.00′ E, Chittagong Anchorage, Bangladesh, Bay of Bengal, South East Asia. Vessel type: Containership. Four robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored container ship. OOW spotted them and immediately raised the alarm. All crew mustered. Seeing crew alertness the robbers jumped overboard and escaped with stolen ship’s stores. Authorities informed.

Date: 15.08.2013. Time: 0240 UTC. Position: 6° 19.00 N’ –3° 27.00′ E, Lagos anchorage, Nigeria, West Africa. Vessel type: Chemical Tanker. About 8 – 10 robbers in a speed boat tried to place a hook to the tanker’s railing. They were spotted by the crew and alarm was raised. Other ships were informed on VHF Radio. The boat moved away. Local authorities were informed and a naval patrol arrived at the location and conducted a search.

Date: 12.08.2013. Time: 0330 LT. Position: 6° 19.00′ N – 3° 27.00′ E, Lagos Anchorage, Nigeria, West Africa. Vessel type: Chemical Tanker. About 11 pirates armed with guns boarded and hijacked a chemical tanker at anchor. They stole crew personal belongings and caused minor injuries to crew members. On the 13.08.2013 the vessel was released and safely arrived at Lagos anchorage.

Date: 11.08.2013. Time: 0005 LT. Position: 6° 19.00′ N – 3° 27.00′ E, Lagos Anchorage, Nigeria, West Africa. Vessel type: Chemical Tanker. Robbers in a small skiff approached the anchored product tanker. Master raised the alarm, all crew mustered and the armed guards onboard fired warning shots, resulting in the skiff moving away.

Date: 10.08.2013. Time: 2345 LT. Position: 0° 16.00′ S – 117° 36.30′ E, Samarinda Anchorage, Indonesia, South China Sea, South East Asia. Vessel type: Bulk Carrier. Three robbers in boiler suits boarded the anchored bulk carrier awaiting for the cargo barge. The robbers held the 3/O who was on routine rounds at the forecastle. They hit him and threatened him with a knife while another five robbers boarded the ship, broke the hatch cover with pipes and crowbars and began to steal ship’s stores. The robbers escaped in a speed boat with the stolen stores and the 3/O personal belongings on seeing duty crew approaching the forecastle. On investigation it was found that the robbers boarded the ship by breaking the hawse pipe security steel grill /cover bolt and nut lock.

Date: 10.08.2013. Time: 0145 LT. Position: 22° 09.30′ N – 91° 47.60′ E, Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh, Bay of Bengal, South East Asia. Vessel type: Containership. While at anchor, three robbers boarded the ship from the poop deck using a hook and rope. Upon discovering the robbers, the duty watchman immediately raised the alarm. Two of the robbers jumped overboard while the third robber grabbed the life-ring from the ship and threw it overboard before escaping in a small wooden boat.

Date: 02.08.2013. Time: 2230 LT. Position: 1° 23.00′ N – 104° 30.00′ E, Strait of Malacca and Singapore, Malaysia, South China Sea, South East Asia. Vessel type: Chemical Tanker. Six pirates armed with a pistol and long knives in a speed boat boarded a product tanker underway. They opened fire, took hostage all crew members, ransacked the bridge and crew cabins and stole cash, crew personal belongings and ship’s properties and escaped. During the incident, two crew members were injured and there was slight damage to the accommodation due to gun fire.

Date: 02.08.2013. Time: 0415 LT. Position: 1° 06.00′ N – 103° 38.00′ E, Nipah Anchorage, Indonesia, South China Sea, South East Asia. Vessel type: Tanker. Duty A/B onboard the tanker noticed a robber outside the accommodation. He immediately retreated into the bridge and informed the D/O who raised the alarm. Seeing crew alertness the robber escaped. On carrying out a search it was noticed that the robber had tried to enter the steering gear room but as it was locked from inside the robber did not have access and escaped empty-handed. All crew safe.

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. OCEANUSLive: Website offering Maritime Situational Awareness for ship and yacht masters, CSOs, DPAs etc. The website also offers an extensive weekly piracy report with valuable information and relevant analysis.
7. IMO’s Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships Information Webpage
8. 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.
9. United Nations National Legislation on Piracy
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Piracy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) by International Group of P&I Clubs