Situation of Piracy and Sea Robbery in Asia in February 2021

ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) today released its February 2021 Report and presentation slides on the situation of piracy and sea robbery in Asia.
 
In February 2021, three incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. No piracy incident was reported.
 
ReCAAP ISC is concerned with the continued occurrence of incidents on board ships while underway in the Singapore Strait. In February 2021, two incidents were reported in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait.
 
There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah in February 2021. However, the risk of the abduction of crew remains high as demonstrated by the abduction of crew incident on 17 Jan 20 (with four crew still held in captivity), information of planned kidnapping (as reported in ReCAAP ISC's Warning issued on 2 Jul 20), and the operation on 3 Nov 20 by the Philippines authorities in preventing a kidnap-for-ransom incident.
 
The third incident occurred on board a ship while berthed at Jakarta Port, Indonesia.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.