Piracy Report Independent Global Incident Analysis PIRACY REPORT DECEMBER Piracy and Acts of Armed Robbery of Ships: Vol XIX For Monthly Reports Please contact Lydelle Joubert info@piracyreport.co.za 1
Analysis Three hotspots related to incidents of piracy and robbery of ships are noted in the incident heat map. These are the South China Sea, Gulf of Guinea and Bangladesh. 2013 Incidents Tanker hijackings were prominent in with four reported cases in the Gulf of Guinea and 14 in Southeast Asia. Kidnapping for ransom of crew on offshore support vessels also continued in Nigeria in. The hijacking of fishing boats are often violent in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. Fishermen are kidnapped for ransom in this area. A high concentration of petty theft on vessels was once again reported in the Straits of Malacca/Singapore in December. Eight attacks occurred between Singapore and Pulau Karimun Kecil, Indonesia, while another five occurred NE of Pulau Bitan, Indonesia. A more serious incident occurred approximately 20nm SE of Pulau Aur, Johor, Malaysia when the tanker, VP Asphalt 2 was attacked by seven pirates. Although crew possessions were stolen, it is likely that the aim of the pirates was to hijack the ship. The tanker was however not a fuel/oil tanker but a asphalt/bitumen tanker. The third engineer was fatally wounded during the attack. 1 Five incidents were reported in the Gulf of Guinea of which two were off Nigeria and two on Nigeria s internal waterways. There is concern from organizations such as the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP) over court decisions to compensate convicted Somali pirates. 2 Incidents December Incidents The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered France to compensate Somali pirates who hijacked two French yachts in 2008 between 7 000 and 9 000 each because they were not brought before a French Court immediately after arriving in France but kept for a further 48hours before doing so. In a similar incident, nine Somalian pirates received around US$3 247 each because they were held for 13 days before they were brought before a judge via video link. The pirates attempted to hijack the product tanker, Torm Kansas off the Somalian coast in November 2013. 3 2
300 Piracy and Attacks on Vessels 1994 to 250 200 150 100 50 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 SE Asia Far East Indian Sub Continent Americas West and Central Africa East Africa/High Risk Zone Rest of World 3
Incidents by Region December 2013 to December 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 DEC 2013 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV EAST AFRICA/HRZ 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 WEST AFRICA 3 14 9 8 3 4 8 5 8 3 9 8 5 INDIAN SUB CONT 1 0 8 2 3 3 5 4 5 8 6 5 2 SE ASIA 17 9 8 7 13 18 24 14 15 7 29 22 18 SOUTH AMERICA 3 1 2 2 3 1 2 3 0 2 3 1 4 MED 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 DEC * Double reported incident in West Africa removed from October stats. 4
35 Incidents by Region December 2013 to December 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 DEC 2013 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC EAST AFRICA/HRZ WEST AFRICA INDIAN SUB CONT SE ASIA SOUTH AMERICA MED Linear (WEST AFRICA) Linear (INDIAN SUB CONT) Linear (SE ASIA) 5
Incidents : Type of Ship Attacked 25 189 84 10 51 Type Vessel Barge Bulk Carrier Cargo ship Coast Guard/ Patrol Boat Container Dhow Ferry Fishing Boat Fishing Trawler Offshore Supply Vessel Passenger Boat Roll-on-Roll-off Cargo Ship Tanker Tug Yacht Code B BC CS PB C D F FB FV OSV PMB Ro-Ro MT TB SY 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 B BC CS PB C D F FB FV OSV PMB Ro- Ro MT TB SY Americas 3 5 3 2 10 Indian Sub Continent 13 1 2 3 10 1 1 21 2 SE Asia 6 48 14 16 5 1 2 86 13 1 West Africa 4 3 5 6 1 1 1 8 15 1 26 8 East Africa 2 3 1 4 6
Hijackings All commercial ship hijackings in occurred in Southeast Asia and the Gulf of Guinea. 14 tankers were hijacked in Southeast Asia in, an increase over previous years (Four hijackings were reported in Southeast Asia between 2011 and 2013). Four tankers were hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea. No hijackings of commercial vessels took place off the coast of Somalia. Three dhow hijackings were however reported in the Gulf of Aden and off Bahrain. Dhow incidents are likely to be higher than reported. Coast Guard/ Patrol Boat Tanker Offshore supply Tug Fishing Trawler Dhow Passenger Boat Yacht Hijackings Fishing vessels were hijacked in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, and Suriname, South America. A single incident was recorded on Lake Ontario, Canada in which is uncommon for the area. On 9 December two men in their mid 20 s forced a Canadian fishing charter operator and his son by knife point to take them to the Niagara village of Youngstown, New York, US where they disembarked. The Border Patrol s Buffalo Sector arrested 37 people illegally entering the US from Canada in the fiscal year ending September. This is however the first recorded hijacking incident. East Africa SE Asia Americas 0 5 10 15 20 West Africa Indian Sub Continent Med Crew Small passenger vessels were hijacked on the internal waterways of Nigeria, a yacht was taken in the Mediterranean of Corsica and a tugboat in Malaysia. A Nigerian military gunboat was reportedly hijacked on 22 December on the Santa Barbara River, Bayelsa, Nigeria. 5 Three soldiers were killed as a result. In a similar attack the following day three members of the Nigerian Military Joint Task Force lost their lives. 6 Kidnappings and Hostage Taking 30 hostages are still being kept in Somalia, some since 2010. Currently four hostages are in captivity from Prantalay 12 (since 2010) and 26 from FV Naham (since 2012). 7 All 30 hostages are of Asian origin. These hostages were abandoned by ships owners and insurers and their families are unable to afford the ransom. 7 Crew Injured Crew Death Hostage -Short Term Hostage -Long Term Kidnapped East Africa SE Asia Americas 0 50 100 150 200 250 West Africa Indian Sub Continent 7
Timeline Summary A timeline analysis of piracy incidents and armed robbery of vessels, reported worldwide for the month of December, highlights the following: 2 December A Vietnamese fishing vessel was attacked in the South China Sea approximately 162nm west of Palawan Island in the Philippines. 8 7 December The Vietnamese Asphalt/bitumen tanker, VP Asphalt 2 was boarded while underway 20nm SE of Pulau Aur, Johor, Malaysia by seven armed pirates. They stole crew s possessions after checking the cargo and left the vessel. The crew found the third engineer with what appeared to be a bullet wound in his head. He died as a result of his injuries. 9 7 December The product tanker, Semua Berjaya was approached while underway by approximately 20 armed pirates in a boat around 17nm ENE of Tanjung Punggai, Johor, Malaysia. Five pirates boarded the tanker by using a ladder and cutting the razor wire barrier surrounding the vessel. The second officer raised the alarm, activated the SSAS and alerted other vessels in the area. Access to the vessel was locked and the crew retreated to the citadel. These actions resulted in the pirates leaving the vessel. 10 7 December The yacht Donna Dee was boarded by armed robbers whom threatened the crew at knife point at Marina ZarPar in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. They stole 4 000 pesos (US$90) and jumped overboard. The coast guard did not respond to the distress call. 11 A similar boarding on another yacht, 3 Pence occurred at the same location three days later. Three robbers swam to a nearby island after the owner resisted the attack. One robber was apprehended by the police, but was subsequently released as the robbery took place after dark and the owner could not identify him. 12 Indonesia Straits of Malacca/ Singapore Malaysia Bangladesh Nigeria Rest of World 45% Incidents by Country 25 18 34 58 Use of Weapons Small arms Other Weapons Knives Not Stated 30% 111 112 9 December Pirates attacked a chemical tanker underway approximately 18nm SW of Akwa Ibon State, Nigeria. The pirates fired on the ship and the onboard security team returned fire. The attack lasted 30 minutes. The pirates were unsuccessful in boarding the vessel. 13 16 December The Port security watchman was threatened by a robber when he was interrupted while stealing mooring ropes from the berthed product tanker, Torm Vita in Beira Port, Mozambique. 14 2% 23% 8
End Notes 1. https://gisis.imo.org viewed 5/01/2015 2. Marine Professional. IMB Concerned About Compensating Pirates, 28 December, http://www.maritimeprofessional.com/news/382957.aspx viewed 9/01/2015. 3. Diplomat, Denmark Compensates Somali Pirates, Attack on a Vietnamese Tanker, http://diplomat.so//12/09/denmark-compensates-somali-pirates-attack-on-avietnamese-tanker/ viewed 17/12/. 4. Thompson, C, 2 men sought after hijacking boat, entering US, The Washington Times, 10 December, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news//dec/10/2-men-sought-after-hijackingboat-entering-us/ viewed 15/12/. 5. http://abcnews.go.com/international/wirestory/pirates-hijack-military-gunboat-nigerias-oil-delta- 27784390 viewed 5/01/2015. 6. http://msi.nga.mil/msisitecontent/staticfiles/misc/wwtts/wwtts_1230100000.txt viewed 7/01/2015 7. Kay, Somali Piracy Threat Always on the Horizon, 18 December, http://www.safetysea.org/modules/news/index.php?storytopic=2&storynum=25 viewed 7/01/2015. 8. http://www.oni.navy.mil/intelligence_community/piracy/pdf/1203_wts.pdf viewed 8/12/. 9. IMO, op cit. 10. Ibid. 11. http://abcnews.go.com/international/wirestory/pirates-hijack-military-gunboat-nigerias-oil-delta- 27784390 viewed 5/01/2015. 12. http://msi.nga.mil/msisitecontent/staticfiles/misc/wwtts/wwtts_1230100000.txt viewed 7/01/2015. 13. http://msi.nga.mil/msisitecontent/staticfiles/misc/wwtts/wwtts_1230100000.txt viewed 6/01/2015. 14. IMO, op cit. All statistics Database compiled from IMB, IMO, ONI, ReCAAP and media. 9