There has been significant improvement in the overall situation of Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships (ARAS) in Asia during January-September 2024, with 19% decrease in the number of incidents compared to January-September 2023. A total of 68 incidents of Piracy and ARAS was reported during January-September 2024 compared to 84 incidents during the same period in 2023.
The improvement occurred in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), the Philippines, India, Thailand and Vietnam. The number of incidents in SOMS decreased by 38% during January September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
However, there was an increase in the number of incidents in Bangladesh and Indonesia during January-September 2024 compared to January-September 2023. The Centre would like to commend the good efforts of the law enforcement agencies for the arrests of the perpetrators and enforcement of ISPS at ports/anchorages; and applauds the initiatives of the ship masters and crew for their vigilance and responsiveness in preventing the unauthorised boarding of the perpetrators in several incidents.
No incident of abduction of crew for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas was reported during January September 2024. The last abduction of crew incident occurred in January 2020.
However, the threat of abduction of crew for ransom remains due to the presence of remnants of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the Sulu and Tawi Tawi area. As such, ships are advised to exercise vigilance and adopt the necessary preventive measures when transiting the area, to maintain communication with the authorities and to report all incidents to the Operations Centres of the Philippines and Eastern Sabah Security Command.
Full advisory at the following link.
https://www.recaap.org/resources/ck/files/reports/quarterly/ReCAAP%203rd%20Qtr%20Report%202024.pdf