AsiaOperationsPiracy

Crew thwarts pirate attack on Swiss bulker

A pirate attack on a supramax bulk carrier operated by Swiss owner SAM has been thwarted by the ship’s crew.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Port Operations Command Centre received a report from 2013-built 57,200 dwt bulk carrier SAM Jaguar on Monday that pirates had boarded the ship near Pulau Karimun Kecil, Indonesia.

The Singapore Navy dispatched littoral mission vessel RSS Independence and a Police Coast Guard craft towards the location to enable them to respond if the vessel entered Singapore territorial waters. In the meantime, the Singapore Navy shared the information of the incident with the Indonesian Navy, which deployed two ships and a helicopter to board the vessel.

The crew members were found safe and unharmed, while the three pirates were locked in the engine room by the ship’s crew and later arrested by the navy.

“Today’s operational outcome is due to the good cooperation and quick response between Singaporean and Indonesian enforcement agencies. By working closely together with the shipping community and littoral states to monitor our waters and share information, we can quickly cue operational responses and keep up the pressure on sea robbers to bring sea robbery incidents down,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Ow, head of the Information Fusion Centre of the Singapore Navy.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.

Comments

  1. The Lieutenant Colonel needs to praise the crew for their courage and initiative.

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