IFC - Information Fusion Centre - MARSEC Monthly Report - December 2019

Highlights :

1. PIRACY / ROBBERY/ MARITIME TERRORIST

IFC recorded 15 incidents: 8 sea thefts/robberies, one hijack and 6 attempted actions (slightly lower as compared to the incidents reported in Dec 2017 (18), but significantly higher than Dec 2018 (7)).

97 incidents have been recorded by IFC area of interest between 01/01/19 and 31/12/19.

- Some details on DECEMBER incidents :

• 10 of the 15 incidents were ship underway - 5 were anchored / berthed;

• 5 of the 15 incidents occurred on Bulk Carrier, 4 on Tanker, 3 on tug/barges, 2 on container vessel and 1 on local passenger vessel;

• 12 incidents occurred by night, 3 daylight;

• Location of incidents (see map below):

• 9 of the 15 incidents occurred in the Straits of Singapore, all on ships underway

• 1 Hijacking-Kidnapping occurred off Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea (12 passengers, including the skipper and crew, were hijacked by four perpetrators pretending to be passengers : this incident resulted in one dead, three missing and four rescued);

• 1 Sea Robbery and 1 attempted action occurred off Panjang Anchorage, Indonesia (3 robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored bulk carrier, broke into the engine room work shop and stole auxiliary engine spare parts and escaped);

• 1 Attempted Action occurred in Visakhapatnam Anchorage Area, India ;

• 1 Sea Theft and 1 attempted Action occurred in Manilla anchorage.

- Three areas of interest:

• Singapore Strait and approaches: increasing trend / novembre, with 9 events ;

• Sulu Sea: No report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah reported the last month. Risk of maritime terrorism persists in the Sulu Sea despite a certain "calm" for almost 4 months. The curfew is still underway off Sabah, until January 21, 2020, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., in the regions of Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran. Le dernier otage de l'attaque en mer de Sulu sur un navire de pêche en septembre dernier a été délivré par les forces philippines - stable trend / novembre;

• Surroundings of the Anambas Archipelago: one incident every three or four months, but with some degree of violence, probably committed by a local gang of pirates (last incident 22/07/2019) - decreasing trend.

2. CONTRABAND SMUGGLING

18 CS events reported, including 5 of drugs (3 Meth Smuggling. 1 Cannabis, 1 Marijuana).

3. IUU

24 incidents reported, including 9 poaching incidents by foreign Vessels, Vietnamese and Indonesian vessels.

Illegal fishing has increased significantly compared to the previous years (+ 35% / 2018, + 95% / 2017). The number of Poaching IUU Fishing incidents recorded for Nov 2019 (10) has increased of 100% compared to the same period in 2018 (Vietnam and India flagged vessels contributed to 70% of these incidents).

4. ILLEGAL MIGRATION

Seven incidents reported, important increase compared to the previous years. The largest number of migrants this month is associated with the Rohingya attempting to migrate to Malaysia (172 people).

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