Monthly Piracy Report for March 2014

Incidents off the West African coast are currently slightly higher than in Southeast Asia, a position last held by West Africa in 2008, the year in which a total of 39 crew members were kidnapped for ransom off various vessels mostly in the oil industry in Nigeria. Up until the date this report is being published the areas of maritime piracy related incidents worldwide are as follows:

• East Africa: 2
• Malacca Strait: 7
• South China Sea: 1
• West Africa: 4
• Indian Ocean: 2
• Persian Gulf: 1

OVERVIEW

• On 30 March 2014 six armed men in a skiff fired on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, Oman. NATO Shipping Centre downgraded this attack to a suspicious approach as they did not judge it to be piracy related.
• The supply vessel, Prime Lady was hijacked off Brass, Nigeria on 6 March 2014 and then used as a mother ship to search for other prospective vessels to hijack. After 20 hours when no vessel could be found they stole crew’s belongings and ship’s stores and left. Crew members were assaulted during the attack.
• Four incidents of kidnapping of crew members were reported off the Nigerian coast.
• Five robberies were reported off Palau Karimunpesar, Indonesia in March 2014. All robberies took place between 04:20 and 05:38 LT and were carried out by a group of four to five robbers, presumably the same group

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.

Attacks East Africa and the HRZ (source: Suritec)

Incidents in West Africa (source: Suritec)

Incidents Southeast Asia (source: Suritec)

PIRACY & ARMED ROBBERY REPORTS

Date/Time: 1-Mar-14 0:40. Vessel Type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 29999. Position/Location/Area: 22° 14.00′ N – 91° 44.00′ E Chittagong Anchorage, Bangladesh Indian Ocean. Four robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored bulk carrier from the stern. Robbers saw the duty crew and followed them with knives. Duty crew spotted the robbers, ran to the bridge and raised the alarm. All crew mustered and vessel reported to the Bangladesh Coast Guard who sent out a patrol boat. The robbers managed to escape.

Date/Time: 4-Mar-14 19:15. Vessel Type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: Position/Location/Area: 27656. 4° 00.20′ N – 5° 16.60′ E WSW of Brass, Nigeria West Africa. Armed robbers in two skiffs chased, fired upon and attempted to board the ship underway. The ship raised the alarm and the non-essential crew mustered in the citadel. Master increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and sent SSAS alert. Due to the hardening measures taken by the Master the pirates aborted the attempted attack and moved away. The ship sustained bullet marks at the accommodation due to the firing.

Date/Time: 6-Mar-14 1:30. Vessel Type: General cargo ship. Flag: Netherlands. GRT: 7949. Position/Location/Area: 4° 44.40′ S – 11° 44.90′ E Pointe Noire, Congo West Africa. Two armed robbers boarded an anchored ship using a rope. They stole ship’s property and escaped when the duty crew spotted them.

Date/Time: 6-Mar-14 5:00. Vessel Type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 60205. Position/Location/Area: 1° 11.00′ N – 103° 26.00′ E 3nm off Karimun Kecil, Indonesia Malacca Strait. Four robbers armed with knives in a speed boat boarded a tanker underway. Alarm raised and crew alerted. Seeing the alerted crew, the robbers escaped immediately.

Date/Time: 6-Mar-14 5:38. Vessel Type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Liberia. GRT: 84796. Position/Location/Area: 1° 09.00′ N – 103° 30.00′ E Nipo Transit, Singapore Malacca Strait. While underway wwo a crude oil tanker heard over the VHF a vessel reporting a robbery incident. Hearing this the wwo ordered his crew to secure the accommodation. While locking the entrance to the steering gear room a crewmember was approached by three pirates with knives and threatened while two more pirates were seen exiting the steering gear room with stolen ships property. As the pirates escaped the crew reported to the bridge and the Master raised the alarm and informed the authorities. All crew safe.

Date/Time: 6-Mar-14 19:12. Vessel Type: Supply ship. Flag: Nigeria. GRT: 1924. Position/Location/Area: 4° 11.00′ N – 5° 44.00′ E Around 30nm WxS of Brass, Nigeria West Africa. Seven pirates in a speed boat approached the drifting vessel and hijacked it. They took the crew as hostage and used the vessel as a mother vessel to look for other vessels to hijack. After around 20 hours when no suitable vessel was found the pirates stole the crew and ship’s properties and escaped. Some crew were beaten up during the hijack.

Date/Time: 7-Mar-14 14:20. Ro-Ro Cargo Ship. Flag: Italy. GRT: 50720. Position/Location/Area: 14° 20.00′ N – 53° 19.00′ E Gulf of Aden, Yemen East Africa. Three skiffs chased and approached the ship underway. Master raised the alarm, contacted UKMTO and broadcast a MAYDAY message. All non-essential crew members mustered in the citadel, and the ship took anti-piracy preventive measures as per BMP4. The on board armed security team fired three red flares when the skiffs closed into the ship resulting in the skiffs aborting the approach. A military helicopter and a warship came to the location to assist.

Date/Time: 8-Mar-14 1:35. Vessel Type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 4535. Position/Location/Area: 9° 56.00′ N – 76° 09.80′ E At anchor in Kochi Anchorage, India Indian Ocean. Robbers in a boat came alongside the tanker with a metallic ladder. The duty officer saw three robbers armed with knives boarded the vessel, and took away some drums of paint from forecastle. He raised the alarm, alerted other duty personnel and rushed to forecastle. On hearing the alarm, the robbers jumped overboard with three drums of paints.

Date/Time: 10-Mar-14 1:50. Vessel Type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Cyrpus. GRT: 89985. Position/Location/Area: 1° 07.45′ N – 103° 31.10′ E TSS East bound lane, SW of Nipa Island, Indonesia Malacca Strait. Four unauthorised men boarded the vessel, while the vessel was sailing. The robbers carried long knives, escaped in a small boat upon hearing the General Alarm that was activated by the crew.

Date/Time: 11-Mar-14 22:48. Vessel Type: Supply ship. Flag: Malaysia. GRT: 1623. Position/Location/Area: 7° 04.00′ S – 102° 32.00′ E 190 nm west of Selat Sunda, Malaysia South China Sea. Vessel was being chased by a fast boat. Another boat was sighted ahead, ten minutes later. The master took evasive action by turning away from the second boat.

Date/Time: 20-Mar-14 0:40. Vessel Type: Containership. Flag: Marshall Islands. GRT: 21094. Position/Location/Area: 5° 59.00′ S – 105° 55.00′ E Cigading Anchorage, Indonesia Malacca Strait. Three robbers boarded an anchored ship using a rope. The duty A/B spotted the robbers and reported to OWW on the bridge. The ship raised the alarm and all crew mustered.

Date/Time: 20-Mar-14 1:15. Vessel Type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Liberia. GRT: 25060. Position/Location/Area: 4° 14.00′ N – 5° 00.00′ E Around 40nm SW of Bayelsa, Nigeria West Africa. A speedboat with four pirates on board armed with guns approached and fired upon the drifting tanker. Master raised the alarm and the non-essential crew members retreated into the citadel. The Master and C/E managed to start the main engine and sailed away. Later, the non-essential crew safely emerged from the citadel.

Date/Time: 23-Mar-14 6:30. Vessel Type: Chemical tanker. Flag: Norway. GRT: 22415. Position/Location/Area: 13° 18.00′ N – 42° 52.00′ E Red Sea, Djibouti East Africa. Five skiffs with three pirates in each approached the tanker underway at high speed. Master raised the alarm, crew mustered, fire pump activated and the on board armed security team took their position. Ladders were noticed in two skiffs as they closed to a distance of 1nm from the tanker. The security team immediately fired one rocket flare towards the skiffs and showed their weapons resulting in the skiffs aborting their approach.

Date/Time: 29-Mar-14 4:20. Vessel Type: Product Tanker. Flag: NA. GRT: 42010. Position/Location/Area: 1° 07.80′ N – 103° 30.60′ E Around 6nm East of Pulau Karimun Kecil, Indonesia Malacca Strait. Four robbers wearing masks armed with knives boarded a product tanker underway. They entered into the engine room and aggressively approached the duty motorman who escaped and informed the bridge. Alarm raised, SSAS activated, authorities informed and crew mustered. A complete search of the tanker was carried out and found that the robbers had escaped.

Date/Time: 30-Mar-14 14:15. Vessel Type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Panama. GRT: 57190. Position/Location/Area: 26° 24.40′ N – 56° 41.40′ E Around 8nm ENE of Musandam Island, Oman Persian Gulf. Six persons in a skiff armed with machine gun approached a tanker underway and fired twice towards the accommodation and bridge. Master raised alarm and mustered all crew. Fire pump activated and vessel altered course. Upon hearing the alarm, the persons aborted the attempted attack and moved away.

Date/Time: 31-Mar-14 3:28. Vessel Type: Oil Tanker. Flag: Bahamas. GRT: 56326. Position/Location/Area: 1° 24.60′ N – 104° 41.70′ E Tanjung Berakit, Pulau Bintan, Indonesia Malacca Strait. Duty A/B on board an anchored tanker noticed four robbers on board the tanker near the stern. He informed the OWW who raised the alarm and crew mustered. The robbers immediately escaped empty handed upon hearing the alarm and seeing the crew alertness. MPA Singapore informed.

Date/Time: 31-Mar-14 5:05. Vessel Type: Bulk carrier. Flag: Malta. GRT: 89510. Position/Location/Area: 1° 06.00′ N – 103° 34.00′ E Around 9nm ENE of Pulau Karimun Besar, Indonesia Malacca Strait. Four robbers boarded the ship underway. They entered into the engine room, threatened the duty oiler with a knife, tied him up and stole engine spares and escaped. Later the duty 2/E found the oiler, released him and raised the alarm.

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

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.