Amahlo-Suritec‘s July 2017 Piracy Report #piracy #maritime #security #marsec

July 2017 - Piracy Report

Analysis

Few incidents of piracy and robbery of vessels were reported worldwide in July 2017 .

Nigeria and the Strait of Malacca are currently the areas with the highest geographical concentration of incidents of piracy and robbery of vessels. Venezuela ; the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas off Malaysia ; and Bangladesh all recorded high incidents in 2017 .

Continues military operations against Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu, Philippines as well as trilateral maritime patrols between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have suppressed maritime kidnappings in the Sulu and Celebes Seas on the short term . Several members of ASG were also arrested in recent months . The last successful kidnapping from a vessel was the two crew kidnapped from the tug, Super Shuttle Tugboat 1 in March 2017 . An attack on MV Doña Anabelle was aborted in April 2017 on arrival of the Navy and Coast Guard and an OSV was chased by two speed boats in May 2017 . Crew should however still exercise vigilance, control access to and on the vessel and maintain regular communication with the shipping company .

The toll on ASG hostages kidnapped from vessels were high in past months – four hostages were beheaded and two killed in 2017. In July 2017 alone two hostages were beheaded, one was killed presumably during a contact between ASG and government forces and two escaped .

On the coast of Nigeria 48 crew and passengers of vessels were kidnapped during seven reported incidents from January to end of July 2017 . Five crew members were kidnapped from a general cargo vessel, Oya 1 off the coast of Nigerian in July 2017. In another unconfirmed incident two crew members were kidnapped off the Agbara Field .

An attempted boarding of a Bulk Carrier from a fishing vessel was reported off Dakar , Senegal . Attacks have not been reported in this area since 2003 /2004 .

On 29 July 2017 Houthi rebels launched an attacked in the Port of Mokha , Yemen with a remote controlled boat packed with explosives . The boat collided with a pier and detonated . No casualties or significant damage were reported . According to Houthi rebels the intended target was an Emirati vessel arriving from Assab Port, Eritrea

Full report is available to download here: