Shipping hit for six by pirates in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore
Six vessels sailing in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore reported incidents to the Singapore Vessel Traffic Information System over a 30 hour period on Friday and Saturday, with five unauthorised boardings and one attempted boarding.
The six vessels were Advantage Summer, Navig8 Stealth SV, Maersk Lebu, Peace Bright, Atout and Elbtank Denmark. All the vessels raised the alarm and all perpetrators fled without harming the crew. There were no loss of property except some personal belongings got stolen on Elbtank Denmark.
ReCAAP believes that the perpetrators could possibly be from the same group considering the close interval of time and proximity of the incidents and it strongly recommends all vessels operating in the area to exercise enhanced vigilance and take extra precautionary measures while underway. It also urged the relevant enforcement agencies to step up surveillance and patrols.
