With three incidents onboard ships within a short period of time while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait (SS) on 18 October, the ReCAAP ISC issued an alert to the maritime community on the continued occurrence of incidents of sea robbery in that area and warned a possibility of further incidents.

“The three incidents occurred within two hours, and two of the incidents occurred in proximity to each other (less than 1 nm apart), off Pulau Karimun Kecil, Indonesia,” the regional inert-governmental anti-piracy information sharing centre said.

According to ReCAAP, all three incidents occurred onboard bulk carriers while transiting the Phillip Channel. Engine spares were stolen in one incident, while all the crew members were not injured in all three incidents.

ReCAAP ISC said with these three incidents, a total of 39 incidents have been reported in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) since January this year. Of these, 38 incidents occurred in the SS and one incident in the Malacca Strait (MS).

The ReCAAP ISC urged the littoral States to increase patrols/surveillance in their respective waters, respond promptly to incidents reported by ships, strengthen coordination and promote information sharing on incidents and criminal groups involved to arrest the perpetrators.

It also advised the ships to intensify vigilance and maintain sharp look-out while transiting the areas of concern, particularly during hours of darkness, adopt preventive measures recommended in the ReCAAP ISC’s Regional Guide 2 to counter piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia and report all incidents immediately to the nearest coastal State and flag State.

Meanwhile, in a dialogue session in Singapore, the ReCAAP ISC put forward a number of risk mitigation measures in top areas of concern in Asian waters to combat piracy and ship robbery.

The centre held dialogue with the law enforcement agencies in Singapore and global shipping companies with an office in Singapore advocating for ships to adopt technology to deter unauthorised ship boarding while transiting high-risk areas in Asia.

There was also deliberation on the IMO “insider threat” toolkit for the shipping industry to identify employees who might be involved in or facilitate security incidents due to ignorance, complacency, or malicious intent.

The ReCAAP ISC identified coastal waters, narrow straits with high vessel traffic and anchorages, where incidents of armed robbery against ships are more likely to occur as areas of concern.

The Singapore Police Coast Guard briefed participants on its joint efforts with law enforcement agencies of littoral states of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) to deter and combat sea robbery, as well as ship security measures vessels can adopt when transiting areas of concern.

At the dialogue session, the ReCAAP ISC updated participants on the situation of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia (ARAS). The Centre reported that a total of 68 incidents occurred in Asia in the first nine months of 2024 which is a 19% decrease in the number of incidents compared to the same period last year. The Straits of Malacca and Singapore witnessed a 38% decrease in robbery incidents, a significant improvement in comparison with incidents of 2023.

ReCAAP ISC Executive Director, Krishnaswamy Natarajan stated, “It is encouraging to see a remarkable improvement in the sea robbery situation in the SOMS. This can be attributed to proactive monitoring and enforcement by the law enforcement agencies of the coastal States and enhanced vigilance by the shipping community.”

During the dialogue session, participants deliberated on the efforts adopted by ship crew, the use of technology to deter unauthorised ship boarding, and the need to instil awareness among crew in evidence collection and preservation to assist in follow-on investigations.

The potential coordination role which ship agents can play in assisting local authorities with investigations, and facilitating the ships to proceed to the next port without delay and incurring financial loss, was also discussed during the session.

On Sunday, a major fire broke out aboard two LPG carriers during an allegedly illegal ship-to-ship transfer off Bangladesh.

The LPG carrier Captain Nikolas was moored off Kutubdia, Chattogram over the weekend to offload its cargo to a lighterage vessel, the B-LPG Sophia. At about 0045 hours Sunday morning, a fire broke out aboard both vessels during cargo transfer operations. The Bangladesh Coast Guard and Bangladeshi Navy responded to the scene with a total of seven vessels, and they brought the fire aboard both vessels under control.

31 crewmembers jumped over the side from both vessels to escape the flames, and all were pulled from the water. No significant injuries were reported.

According to New Age Bangladesh, the Captain Nikolas escaped the fire relatively unscathed, but the Sophia sustained significant damage.

The LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB) claims that the origin of the cargo aboard Captain Nikolas was misdeclared, and that it actually came from Iran, a sanctioned supplier. Captain Nikolas' AIS record shows a weeklong gap in mid-September, just before she departed the Persian Gulf, according to data provided by Pole Star.

CPA Secretary Mohd Omar Faruk told The Business Standard that the vessel was searched and no evidence of an illicit cargo was found. The papers aboard showed that the Captain Nikolas took on the LPG in Dubai or Oman, Faruk said.

The Chittagong Port Authority has set up a committee to determine the cause of the fire, with a rapid one-week timetable for completing the investigation, according to New Age.

Captain Nikolas is a 50,000 dwt LPG carrier built in 1992 and flagged in the Cook Islands. It was detained in Hunen, China in January for two issues with fire protection in the cargo deck area, among other fire safety issues - and was cited for the same problem again when it returned to Hunen in March.

The incidents aboard Captain Nikolas and B-LPG Sophia were the third and fourth major vessel fires off Bangladesh within two weeks. A blaze broke out aboard the tanker Banglar Shourabh on October 4, killing one crewmember, and a fire aboard the tanker Banglar Jyoti (video below) killed three on September 30.

Weakened but still powerful Typhoon Kraton hit southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, Oct. 3, causing hundreds of flights to be canceled and financial markets to close for the second straight day. Two people were killed as a result of the disaster.

Transportation and economic impacts of Typhoon Kraton:

The storm caused many flights to stop: all domestic flights were canceled for a second day, as well as 242 international flights. The high-speed railroad between north and south Taiwan suspended operations

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port plans to establish a new terminal with a capacity of 2 million TEUs in the Fodu zone of the Liuheng port area.

According to DynaLiners, the new terminal is expected to include two berths capable of accommodating vessels of 24,000 TEUs, with the potential for future expansion to handle ships of up to 32,000 TEUs.

The construction works are scheduled to commence in October 2025 and the project is anticipated to be completed before the end of 2027.

On 16 September, an MSC feeder boxship, the 1,730 TEU MSC Riona, was involved in an accident at Yantian Port in southern China, resulting in part of a ship-to-shore crane collapsing onto the vessel.

As a result, a number of boxes from the ship fell into the sea, according to local sources.

MSC Riona was built in 1998 and was deployed on an intra-Asia service.

The accident occurred around 8:40 am, causing the suspension of operations at berth two of the Shenzhen port. At the time of writing, no injuries have been reported.