Piracy, armed robbery cases climbed last year – IMB
THE number of piracy and armed robbery cases among seafarers in the Philippines more than doubled from 10 in 2016 to 22 in 2017, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.
In a statement, IMB said most of these cases were low-level attacks on anchored vessels at the Manila and Batangas ports.
“Vessels underway off the southern Philippines were boarded and [the] crew kidnapped in the first quarter of 2017,” the bureau said.
“However, alerts broadcast by the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Center (PRC), on behalf of the Philippine authorities, have since helped to avoid further successful attacks,” it added.
IMB noted a report from the International Chamber of Commerce that it registered 180 such incidents last year, the lowest
This came as global figures for 2017 show that 136 vessels were boarded, while there were 22 attempted attacks, 16 vessels fired upon, and six ships hijacked.
IMB said Somalia had nine incidents near its coast in 2017, up from the two in 2016. Armed pirates attacked a container ship approximately 280 nautical miles east of the Somalian capital Mogadishu. However, the pirates were unable to board the vessel as the ship fired two RPG rockets.
Six Somali pirates were detained by the European Union Naval Force and were then transferred to the Seychelles. They were charged with “committing an act of piracy,” for which they face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
“This dramatic incident, alongside our 2017 figures, demontsrates that Somali pirates retain the capability and intent to launch attacks against merchant vessels hundreds of miles from their coastline,” IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan said.
Last year, the Maritime Asset Security and Training ( MAST) said Sulu/Celebes area in southern Mindanao is the world’s top fastest growing piracy hotspot.
“The Sulu/Celebes area is the world’s fastest growing piracy hotspot, with violent attacks on commercial vessels and their crews, and an increasingly successful kidnap-for-ransom business model,” MAST Chief Operating