IFC - Information Fusion Centre - MARSEC Monthly Report - MAY 2020

Highlights :

1. PIRACY / ROBBERY/ MARITIME TERRORISM In May 2020, the IFC recorded 14 incidents: 1 Piracy event, 2 sea-robberies, 3 sea thefts and 5 attempted robberies (statistics slightly up from those of May 2019 (11) and May 2018 (9)).

51 events have been recorded by IFC since January 1st. Some informations :

• 3 of the 14 evens were on ship underway - 11 were anchored / berthed;

• 13 of the 14 events occurred at night;

• 6 of the 14 incidents were on Tanker, 4 on Bulk Carrier, 1 on a Fishing vessel, 1 on a Tug, 1 on an offshore support vessel and one on a pleasure craft;

• Location of incidents (see map below):

  • One Piracy event on an anchored tanker off Batam, Indonesia;

  • One Sea-Robbery, one Sea-Theft and one attempted action in Singapore Strait, all on ships underway; 

  • One Sea Robbery incident onboard an underway fishing trawler off Malwan, India (authorities arrested all 16 perpetrators and recovered stolen items the next day);

  • Two Sea Theft events in Muara Berau Anchorage (Indonesia) during PoD on two bulk carriers, with the same modus operandi: although no incident was recorded in 2019, a number of incidents occurred in this area in 2018 (15);

  • One Sea Theft on an anchored pleasure craft (australian skipper) off South Sumatra, Indonesia (with various navigation and communications equipment and personal belonging stolen);

  • One Sea Theft and one attempted action along the Sunda strait on anchored tankers during PoD (in both incidents, perpetrators were reported armed with knives);  

  • One Sea Theft on a tanker while berthed in Belawan Port during PoD with ship's stores were stolen;

  • One Sea Theft on a tanker Off Chattogram Port, Bangladesh;

  • One Sea Theft was reported Off Campha Anchorage, Vietnam;

  • One attempted action on a tanker Off Tanjung Uban Anchorage, Indonesia.

2. ILLEGAL FISHING ACTIVITIES There were « only » 33 IUU fishing incidents reported in May 20, which is 36.5% lower than in the same period in 2019 (52). This decrease is due to larger maritime border control operations especially by Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia during COVID-19 pandemic period combined with the measures taken by Malaysian authorities to expel the illegal foreign fishing vessel from Malaysian waters (Operation « Benteng »).  66% of the reported Poaching incidents were by Vietnamese fishing vessels and 50% of the reported Poaching incidents occurred in waters of Indonesia.  3. MARITIME INCIDENTS 50 maritime incidents were reported for May 20 which is 23% lower than what was recorded in May 2019, but the number of Deaths (5) is significantly lower as compared to May 2019 (35).  4. CONTRABAND The number of incidents reported this month is quite stable compared to the two previous years or months.  However, ce can highlight the volume of drugs (cocaine and methamphetamine) and tobacco trafficking compared to the previous month. 5. ILLEGAL MIGRATION Statistics illustrate that 87.1% of the illegal migrants were Indonesians, 5.4% were Chinese, 4.8% were Filipino, 1.3% were Bangladesh and 1.3% are still unknown.  Increased numbers of Indonesian illegal migrants, travelling between Malaysia and Indonesia have dominated smuggling networks activities this month. This can be attributed to several reasons such as Ramadan, loss of jobs due to COVID-19 and cessation of legal transport options.

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