Monthly Piracy Report for December 2013

On a monthly basis the Officer of the Watch Blog publishes a report regarding maritime piracy incidents. The report focuses mainly on vessels of the Merchant Navy (Bulk Carrier, Chemical Tankers, Containerships etc). 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: 3
• Malacca Strait: 3
• North Atlantic Ocean: 1
• South America: 2
• South China Sea: 11
• West Africa: 4

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 – December 2013 (source: Suritec)

Figure above: Incidents in West Africa – December 2013 (source: Suritec)

Figure above: Incidents Southeast Asia – December 2013 (source: Suritec)

Figure above: Incidents in America – December 2013 (source: Suritec)

PIRACY & ARMED ROBBERY REPORTS

Date: 1-Dec-13. Time: 5:12. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Liberia. GRT: 58100. Position: 1° 06.00′ N – 103° 38.00′ E . Location: Nipah Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. One robber armed with a knife boarded an anchored tanker during STS operations. The duty O/S on routine rounds noticed the robber and informed the OOW. Alarm raised and all crew mustered. Seeing the crew alertness, the robber escaped empty handed in a wooden boat.

Date: 2-Dec-13. Time: 1:30. Vessel type: Containership. Flag: Singapore. GRT: 13448. Position: 20° 35.00′ N – 107° 05.00′ E. Location: Off Norway Island, Haiphong, Viet Nam. Area: South China Sea. Pirates boarded, stole ship’s property and escaped unnoticed from the drifting ship. The theft was noticed by the duty crew during making routine rounds.

Date: 3-Dec-13. Time: NA. Vessel type: General cargo ship. Flag: NA. GRT: NA. Position: 04° 20.00′ N – 008° 45.00′ E. Location: Cameroon. Area: West Africa. Two speedboats with eight pirates in each boat attacked the vessel and briefly board the vessel before a security team of Cameroon soldiers engaged the robbers in a firefight which forced the pirates to flee the ship. Several pirates were killed during the firefight. (source: (www.news.odin.tc)

Date: 4-Dec-13. Time: 4:30. Vessel type: General cargo ship. Flag: Panama. GRT: 10959. Position: 10° 10.92′ N – 107° 04.20′ E . Location: Vung Tau anchorage, Viet Nam. Area: South China Sea. While at anchor waiting for docking at No K15B Jetty-Ho Chi Minh, the duty AB found the broken store door and paint missing

Date: 4-Dec-13. Time: 19:55. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Switzerland. GRT: 20924. Position: 22° 47.00′ N – 70° 05.00′ E . Location: Kandla Anchorage, India. Area: Arabian Sea. Three robbers boarded an anchored bulk carrier. OOW spotted the robbers and raised the alarm. Seeing alerted crew the robbers escaped with stolen ship’s property.

Date: 5-Dec-13. Time: 21:00. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Liberia. GRT: 28073. Position: 3° 43.00′ S – 114° 25.00′ E. Location: Taboneo Anchorage – Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. A robber tried to board an anchored ship via the hawse pipe. Duty crew on routine rounds saw the robber and immediately informed the OOW who raised the alarm resulting in the robber escaping without stealing anything.

Date: 7-Dec-13. Time: 5:30. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Singapore. GRT: 56365. Position: 1° 07.00′ N – 103° 35.00′ E. Location: Nipah Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Four robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored tanker during STS operations. Duty Engineer spotted the robbers near the ECR and quickly raised the alarm. Seeing the crew alertness, the robbers escaped empty handed.

Date: 9-Dec-13. Time: 3:30. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Bahamas. GRT: 42443. Position: 12° 50.00′ N – 47° 49.00′ E. Location: Gulf of Aden, Djibouti. Area: East Africa. Five robbers armed with guns in a skiff approached and fired upon the tanker underway. Master raised alarm, activated fire hoses, increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and contacted UKMTO for assistance. The on-board armed security team took their position and showed their weapons resulting in the robbers aborting the attempted attack. A military helicopter came to the location to assist and patrolled the area.

Date: 9-Dec-13. Time: 3:48. Vessel type: NA. Flag: Hong Kong. GRT: 75750. Position: 12° 52.50′ N – 47° 52.40′ E. Location: Gulf of Aden, Djibouti. Area: East Africa. Five robbers armed with guns in a skiff approached the ship underway. Master raised alarm, activated fire hoses, sounded ship’s horn, took evasive manoeuvres and non-essential crew members mustered in the citadel. The on-board armed security team took their position and showed their weapons but the skiff continued to approach the ship even after the armed team fired a warning flare towards the skiff. The security team fired warning shots as the skiff came closed to the ship. The robbers responded by engaging the ship with small arms fire and the security team returned fire resulting in the robbers aborting the attempted attack. A military helicopter came to the location to assist.

Date: 10-Dec-13. Time: 1:20. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Panama. GRT: 28517. Position: 1° 25.20′ N – 104° 41.50′ E . Location: Pulau Bintan, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Five robbers boarded an anchored tanker while crew were busy performing tank cleaning procedures. 2/E on duty in the engine room noticed the robbers and informed bridge who raised the alarm. The robbers escaped immediately upon hearing the alarm with stolen engine spares.

Date: 12-Dec-13. Time: 6:00. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Comoros. GRT: 40516. Position: 1° 06.00′ N – 103° 37.00′ E. Location: Nipah Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Three to four robbers boarded an anchored tanker via the stern. They were immediately spotted by the duty officer who raised the alarm. Seeing crew alertness, the robbers escaped in their boat. A through search of the vessel showed that no stores and valuables were stolen. All access to accommodation, engine room and stores were locked and secured.
Date: 15-Dec-13. Time: 3:30. Vessel type: Product tanker. Flag: Hong Kong. GRT: 29266. Position: 6° 20.40′ N – 3° 22.10′ E. Location: Lagos anchorage, Nigeria. Area: West Africa. While at anchor, a suspicious boat approached towards the vessel bow. The crew alerted the armed security personnel on deck. One of the armed security personnel fired warning rounds into the sea.

Date: 16-Dec-13. Time: 0:00. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: NA. Position: NA. Location: Off Nigeria. Area: West Africa. Ten pirates attacked an oil products tanker and its 18 crewmembers approximately 35 nm off the Niger Delta. After boarding the vessel, the pirates kidnapped the Ukrainian captain and a Greek engineer.

Date: 16-Dec-13. Time: 20:00. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: NA. GRT: 59611. Position: 0° 06.00′ S – 117° 34.00′ E. Location: Santan Anchorage, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. A robber boarded an anchored crude oil tanker. Alert duty watchman notified the bridge and alarm raised resulting in the robber escaping. Crew mustered and searched the ship. All crew safe and no ship’s stores reported stolen.

Date: 18-Dec-13. Time: 1:40. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Bahamas. GRT: 32545. Position: 0° 15.60′ S – 117° 35.30′ E. Location: Muara Berau Anchorage, Samarinda, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Three robbers boarded an anchored bulk carrier, broke into the forward store and stole ship property. They were spotted by OOW who raised the alarm resulting in the robbers escaping in their wooden boat. All crew safe.

Date: 18-Dec-13. Time: 4:30. Vessel type: Supply ship. Flag: Singapore. GRT: 906. Position: 1° 15.30′ N – 104° 09.60′ E . Location: Southwest of Tanjung Ayam, Singapore. Area: Malacca Strait. While the supply vessel towing barge was underway, pirates boarded the barge, from a wooden craft which was alongside the barge. The pirates left the barge at or about 0535hrs after taking some ropes.

Date: 18-Dec-13. Time: 5:05. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Panama. GRT: 22863. Position: 12° 05.90′ N – 45° 24.39′ E. Location: Gulf of Aden, Yemen. Area: East Africa. While transiting the IRTC in westbound direction the bulk carrier spotted eight skiffs with three people in each heading towards the bulk carrier at very fast speed. Arms were sighted by the ship’s crew. The skiffs stopped at a distance of appr. 0.5nm. The onboard privately armed security personnel prepared for an armed response but suspicious craft did not further pursue the ship.

Date: 18-Dec-13. Time: 20:45. Vessel type: Product tanker. Flag: Singapore. GRT: 14320. Position: 3° 47.50′ N – 98° 42.60′ E. Location: Belawan Port, Indonesia. Area: Malacca Strait. Pirates boarded a berthed tanker unnoticed. They broke into the ship’s forward stores and escaped with ship’s property.

Date: 19-Dec-13. Time: 4:00. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Viet Nam. GRT: 4159. Position: 1° 19.00′ N – 104° 16.00′ E. Location: Malaysia. Area: South China Sea. Alert crew on board an anchored chemical tanker noticed a speed boat approaching at high speed. Alarm sounded and ship search light directed towards the boat which had come alongside. Seeing alerted crew the speed boat moved away.

Date: 19-Dec-13. Time: 5:00. Vessel type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 22432. Position: 32° 18.70′ N – 9° 14.90′ W . Location: Safi Port, Morocco. Area: North Atlantic Ocean. Two robbers attempted to board the berthed ship by climbing the stern mooring rope. Alert duty crew noticed the robbers and informed the OOW who raised the alarm and crew mustered. Upon seeing the crew alertness, the robbers jumped into the water and escaped in a small craft.

Date: 19-Dec-13. Time: 8:30. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 27357. Position: 3° 54.80′ N – 98° 47.90′ E. Location: 9nm off Belawan Port, Indonesia. Area: Malacca Strait. Robbers boarded an anchored chemical tanker unnoticed. They broke into the ship’s forward stores and escaped with ship’s property.

Date: 20-Dec-13. Time: 23:20. Vessel type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Turkey. GRT: 1803. Position: 3° 54.00′ N – 98° 47.00′ E. Location: Around 7.0nm NNE of Belawan Port, Indonesia. Area: South China Sea. Robbers boarded an anchored tanker unnoticed. Broke into the forecastle store.

Date: 22-Dec-13. Time: 2:06. Vessel type: Containership. Flag: Chile. GRT: 16986. Position: 24° 07.00′ S – 46° 19.00′ W . Location: Santos Anchorage Area No. 4, Brazil. Area: South America. During safety rounds, OOW on board an anchored container vessel noticed three armed robbers opening some containers and immediately informed the bridge. The robbers spotted the crew and held him hostage. The alarm was raised, the robbers released the crew and escaped in a small fast boat with some cargo stolen from the containers. All crew mustered and the Harbour Master was informed.

Date: 28-Dec-13. Time: 1:02. Vessel type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 41526. Position: 10° 18.00′ N – 75° 32.00′ W . Location: Momanal Anchorage, Colombia. Area: South America. Robbers boarded an anchored tanker via the hawse pipe, stole ship properties and escaped without being noticed by the deck patrol.

Date: 31-Dec-13. Time: 0:55. Vessel type: General cargo ship. Flag: Netherlands. GRT: 5925. Position: 4° 53.00′ N – 1° 41.00′ W. Location: Takoradi roads, Ghana. Area: West Africa. Three robbers boarded an anchored general cargo vessel. When spotted by the security watch on deck, the robbers immediately escaped.

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. The Company 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.