Piracy Report Independent Global Incident Analysis PIRACY REPORT NOVEMBER 2017 _____________________________________________________ Piracy and Acts of Armed Robbery of Ships For Monthly Reports Please contact Lydelle Joubert [email protected] Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 1 Analysis Nigeria, the Strait of Malacca and the Philippines 2016 are currently the worst piracy and maritime robbery Incidents affected areas. Venezuela also recorded high incidents. 71 crew members and passengers of vessels were kidnapped on the coast of Nigeria during 11 reported incidents between January and end of November 2017. Maritime kidnap risk off Nigeria remains high. Ten crew members were kidnapped from the Bulk Carrier, Venus Bay in November 2017. The Nigerian Navy rescued the kidnap victims and arrested five pirates. The incident has yet to be confirmed by the Nigerian Navy or in local Nigerian newspapers. Arrests of kidnap for ransom syndicate members targeting commercial vessels off the Nigerian coast 2017 are almost unheard of. For the most the only Incidents kidnappers arrested are those involved in the kidnapping of passengers and crew from small local vessels or arrests that were executed by neighbouring countries. It is likely that the suspects in this incident would have been involved in previous kidnappings. It raises more questions about the identities of the kidnappers or possible links to prominent members of Nigerian society. The Fishing Trawlers Owners Association of Nigeria listed piracy and robbery as a major challenge for the industry. Attacks on fishing vessels in the Gulf of Guinea are seldom reported. Two robberies on yachts were recorded at Porto da Praia Bay, Cape Verdes. A suspect was arrested in connection with one of the incidents and three November 2017 others have been identified. Incidents Six suspects were arrested by EU NAVFOR Flagship, ITS Virginio Fasan after an attack on the Container Ship, MV Ever Dynamic was reported off the Somali coast on 17 November 2017. The barge, Ever Omega on tow by tug Ever Prosper was hijacked near Singkawang, Indonesia on 22 November 2017. The barge has since been located, but the cargo of palm oil was removed. Six suspects were arrested in the Philippines after an attempted boarding of the fishing boat Nancy 888 in the Moro Gulf, Philippines on 19 November 2017. Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 2 Incidents of Piracy and Robbery of Vessels: 2015 to 2017 35 Southeast Asia 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 14 West Africa 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC East Africa, Red Sea & Gulf of Aden 7 6 2015 5 2016 4 2017 3 Linear (2015) 2 Linear (2016) 1 Linear (2017) 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 3 Incidents by Region November 2016 to November 2017 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV 2016 2016 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 EAST AFRICA AND ARABIAN GULF WEST AFRICA INDIAN SUB CONT SE ASIA SOUTH AMERICA Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 4 Incidents 2017: Type of Ship Attacked 36 75 48 18 15 36 35 34 33 32 31 Type Vessel Code 30 29 Barge B 28 27 Bulk Carrier BC 26 Cargo ship CS 25 Coast Guard/ PB 24 Patrol Boat 23 Container C 22 21 Dhow D 20 Ferry F 19 Fishing Boat FB 18 Fishing Trawler FV 17 Offshore Supply OSV 16 15 Vessel 14 Passenger Boat PMB 13 Roll-on-Roll-off 12 Cargo Ship Ro-Ro 11 Tanker MT 10 9 Tug TB 8 Yacht SY 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 BC CS C D FB OSV PMB MT TB SY F Other Americas 3 2 2 6 15 5 1 2 Indian Sub Continent 3 3 1 3 2 3 SE Asia 16 2 6 5 2 34 7 2 West Africa 9 5 5 5 2 16 1 2 3 East Africa/Arabian Gulf 3 2 4 7 1 Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 5 Southeast Asia 18/11/2017. Tug, Atlantic 22/11/2017. Tug, Ever 19/11/2017. Nancy 888. 8 towing barge, Atlantic Prosper towing barge, Fishing Vessel. Chased by 9. Attempted boarding. Ever Omega. Barge two pump boats. Six hijacked. suspects arrested Eleven incidents of piracy and robbery of vessels were reported in Southeast Asia in November 2017. Six incidents were reported in the Singapore Straits of which only one, the attack on the Bulk Carrier, Nordmorsel, occurred while the vessel was underway. Three vessels were anchored off Pulau Bintan when they were boarded. Robbers stole ship’s properties during one of the three incidents. A robbery was reported at Muara Berau Anchorage, Samarinda, Indonesia. In the Moro Gulf, Philippines armed men in a pump boat chased the fishing boat Nancy 888. The Philippines Navy arrested six suspects in connection with this incident. Tugs towing barges were targeted during two incidents. The barge Ever Omega was hijacked during one of these incidents. 8 November 2017 – The Bulk Carrier, Andromeda was boarded while underway 21nm SW of Palau Mangkai, Kepulauan Anambas, Indonesia. The attackers were armed with knives. They stole ship’s and crew properties and damaged communication equipment before escaping in a boat.1 19 November 2017 – The fishing boat Nancy 888, was chased by two motorized pump boats with armed men onboard at the Sibarot fishing grounds, 22nm NE off Saluping Island in the Moro Gulf, Philippines. The Philippines Navy dispatched the patrol vessel Manuel Gomez in response. The navy intercepted the suspects on 20 November 2017 near Bolod Island. They arrested six suspects and confiscated a M16 assault rifle and four magazines with ammunition. The suspects are Omar Amping, 39; Gabby S. Juwa, 35; Jadi Luhadi, 21; Alcimel Abdulla, 18; Madi Jalilul, 19; and Sakkam Dekani, 60. Amping has two outstanding arrest warrants.2 Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 6 Attacks on Tugs towing Barges Two incidents involving tugs towing barges were reported in November 2017. 22 November 2017 –The Tug, Ever Prosper towing the barge, Ever Omega was attacked by men with machetes near Singkawang, Indonesia. They were onroute to Penang from Bintulu at the time. The attackers transferred the crew of the barge to the tug and hijacked the barge with a cargo of 3700 tonnes of palm oil. The barge was located by authorities on 23 November 2017, but the cargo had been removed.3 18 November 2017 – A speed boat which appeared to be from the Police or Navy came alongside the Tug Atlantic 8, towing the barge Atlantic 9 near Pulau Singkep, Indonesia. The Tug and barge were onroute from Muaro Jambi, Indonesia to Viet Nam with a load of coal at the time. The AB noticed that the speed boat has been following them since they left Muaro Jambi. The master switched on the spotlight but refused the men to board. He maintained speed and altered course. After a while the speedboat left the location.4 At least 117 incidents of piracy and robbery on tugboats have been reported in Southeast Asia since 2010 A clear concentration of attacks on tugboats in the Singapore Strait is illustrated in the heat map above. Most of the tugboats are towing cargo barges and they have to slow down to navigate heavy traffic in the straits which allows for easy boarding. Tugboats and barges are targeted in order to kidnap crew; to hijack either the tug or barge to resell the vessel or the cargo; or to steal part of the cargo or ships properties from the barge while underway. Copyright © 2017 L. Joubert 7 Attacks on barges carrying Crude Palm Oil and Crude Kernel Palm Oil since 2011 The Tug, Ever Prosper and barge, Ever Omega are owned by Pengangkutan Kekal Sdn Bhd. The company suffered six attacks since 2011. The November 2017 attack was the second time Ever Prosper has been targeted. Their cargo are usually Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Crude Kernel Palm Oil (CKPO). Pengangkutan Kekal Sdn Bhd vessels were hijacked during four of the six incidents, while ships and crew properties were stolen during the remaining two. Vessels owned by Pengangkutan Kekal Sdn Bhd were not the only vessels carrying CPO or CKPO that were targeted during this time. Two other tugs towing barges were hijacked over the same period. The tanker Srikandi 515 carrying a load of 3100 tons of palm oil was hijacked in 2014. Pengangkutan Kekal Sdn Bhd is not the only tugboat company which reported multiple attacks. There are several companies which were targeted multiple times. Although some of the attacks are pre-planned in detail which require insider knowledge, it is not always the case. Companies often follow the same routes and schedules which make the location of the vessels predictable. The attempted boarding of the Axsonic Shipping tug and barge, Atlantic 8 and Atlantic 9 in November 2017 was also not the first incident where the company’s vessels was targeted. Three incidents against vessels of the company were reported in 2010 and 2011. The Atlantic 3 towing the barge Atlantic 5 was hijacked on 27 April 2010. On 19 May 2010 the Philippines coast guard noted two vessels matching the descriptions of the tug and barge entering Saragani Bay, Philippines. They boarded the vessel. The embossed names of the vessel were cut away and the tug was renamed Marlyn 8.5 This hijacking was pre-planned as the buyer of the vessel produced fake registration and ship building documents for Marlyn 8.6 Copyright © 2017 L.