Maritime piracy incidents continued to decline, from 97 in the first half of 2016 to 87 in the same period this year, according to the International Chamber of Commerce-International Maritime Bureau (ICC-IMB) second quarter piracy report.
During the first half of 2017, a total of 87 incidents was reported, representing some of the lowest figures seen in the last five-year period, the report said. Of the total, 63 vessels were boarded by outlaws, 12 fired upon, and four hijacked. Attacks were attempted on eight other vessels.
For the same period in review, a total of 63 crews were taken hostage, 41 kidnapped, three injured and two killed.
Cooperation between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia proved pivotal in bringing down the number of reported incidents in and around the Philippines – from nine recorded in the first quarter of the year to four in the second quarter.
The number of low-level attacks off Indonesia also dropped from 24 in 2016 to 19 in 2017.
The hijacking of a small Thai product tanker on its way to Songkhla, Thailand from Singapore, however, is a departure from the downward trend. The incident, which occurred at the end of June, saw six heavily-armed pirates moving 1,500 metric tons of gas oil from the product tanker to another vessel. The incident resembles the pattern of another product tanker hijacking incident in the region that occurred every two weeks between April 2014 and August 2015.
In the second quarter of the year, an Indian dhow was hijacked, one of five incidents off Somalia reported during the period. In addition to three reports of vessels coming under fire and a bulk carrier boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the incident reveals Somali pirates “still retain the skills and capacity to attack merchant ships far from coastal waters,” according to the report. It urged ship masters to “maintain high levels of vigilance when transiting the high-risk area and to adhere to the latest version of best management practices.”
When it comes to reports of kidnappings, ICC-IMB noted pirates in Nigeria continue to dominate, having been responsible for the abduction of 31 crew in five reported incidents this year. The total includes 14 crew members taken from two separate vessels from April to June this year.
The IMB together with Oceans Beyond Piracy is pushing the Community of Reporting project, designed to encourage stakeholders to share reports of piracy and armed robbery with the IMB in order to address under reporting in the Gulf of Guinea region. – Aubrey Joyce Bajo
