Several pirates attacks were reported during the weekend in Straits of Malacca and Singapore to six cargo vessels passing through.
On August 21 and 22, six vessels while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore were subject to pirate attack.
According to Singapore Vessel Traffic Information System a group of pirates attempted to boars six merchant ships in the area, reporting five successful boardings and one attempted boarding.
The targets of the group were selected random from the vessels in vicinity. The six ships attacked ships were Maersk Lebu, Advantage Summer, Peace Bright, Navig8 Stealth SV, Atout and Elbtank Denmark.
From the description of the incidents, the perpetrators operated in about 4-5 persons, armed with knives and were opportunistic in nature without targeting specific vessels.
The pirates succeeded to board the ships, but in all the cases crew noticed them and raised alarm, which scared perpetrators and they were leaving the ships without spoils.
Considering the close interval of time and proximity of these incidents, the pirates could be from the same group. Of concern, says ReCAAP ISC is their persistence in ‘hovering’ in the vicinity seeking out their next target.
The ReCAAP ISC strongly recommends all vessels operating in this area to exercise enhanced vigilance and take extra precautionary measures while underway.