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Piracy and armed robbery against ships

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported the lowest number of reported piracy and armed robbery incidents for the first nine months of any year since 1994.

Narjiss Ghajour Send an email October 14, 2021
1,421 5 minutes read

 

DEFINITIONS OF PIRACY AGAINST SHIPS

Definition of Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed-

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).

DEFINITIONS OF ARMED ROBBERY AGAINST SHIPS 

Armed robbery against ships means any of the following acts:

.1 any illegal act of violence or detention or any act of depredation, or threat thereof, other than an act of piracy, committed for private ends and directed against a ship or against persons or property on board such a ship, within a State’s internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea;

.2 any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described above

The definitions of piracy and armed robbery are aimed to assign responsibility for responding to these illegal acts. It is worth noting that these definitions do not consider the resulting consequence on the crew, vessel and cargo, which in IMB’s experience ranges from opportunistic theft, cargo theft, taking crew hostage, assault and injury, kidnapping and in some cases death of a crew member.

It is vital that all actual and attempted incidents at the time of, or shortly after, the incident are reported and recorded. This is the first essential step in the response chain.

Under the definitions of Piracy or Armed Robbery, the IMB PRC reports incidents as follows:

1. Boarded: An illegal act of perpetrators successfully gaining access onto the vessel.

2. Hijacked: An illegal act of perpetrators successfully gaining access onto the vessel and taking over the control of the vessel from the Master and crew.

3. Fired Upon: An illegal act of perpetrators discharging weapons towards the vessel while attempting to gain access onto the vessel.

4. Attempted: An illegal act of perpetrators attempting to approach a vessel with possible intention to board but remain unsuccessful due to the timely actions of the crew.

The consequences to the crew, vessel, or cargo, as a result of the above illegal acts:

1. Crew: Kidnap, hostage, death, threat, assault, injury, missing.

2. Vessel: Damage, especially due to the discharge of weapons or when perpetrators willfully damage vessel equipment and property.

3. Cargo: Theft or damage to cargo.

     

    IMB’s latest global piracy report recorded 97 incidents of piracy and armed robbery for the first nine months of 2021 – the lowest level of reported incidents since 1994. In 2021, IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) reported 85 vessels boarded, nine attempted attacks, two vessels fired upon and one vessel hijacked.

    Reported incidents are down to their lowest level in decades, but violence against seafarers has continued with 51 crew kidnapped, eight taken hostage, five threatened, three injured, two assaulted and one killed, according to the latest IMB statistics.

    While the reduction of reported incidents is a welcome, IMB PRC warns that seafarers must remain vigilant as violence against crew remains high in many areas of the world.

    Decrease in Gulf of Guinea
    The Gulf of Guinea region recorded 28 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the first nine months of 2021, in comparison to 46 for the same period in 2020. Most notably, Nigeria only reported four incidents in the first nine months of 2021, in comparison to 17 in 2020 and 41 in 2018. Crew kidnappings in the region have dropped with only one crew member kidnapped in Q3 2021, compared to 31 crew members taken in five separate incidents during Q3 2020. All Q3 incidents in 2021 were also against vessels at port anchorages whilst the average successful kidnapping location in Q3 2020 was approximately 100NM from land.

    The overall reduction of piracy and armed robbery incidents in the region is a testament to enhanced maritime security and response coordination measures adopted by regional and national authorities, according to IMB. Despite these gains, IMB warns that the risk to crew remains high in the region and that such efforts must therefore be sustained.

    “We welcome the decrease of piracy and armed robbery attacks in the Gulf of Guinea and the efforts taken by maritime authorities in the region,” said Michael Howlett, Director, ICC International Maritime Bureau. “However, there needs to be sustained efforts to ensure the continued safety of seafarers as they transport essential goods throughout the region. Coastal States must redouble their coordination and security measures to ensure that piracy and armed robbery incidents continue to decline.”

    Worrying signs in Singapore Straits
    The Singapore Straits reported 20 incidents of armed robbery – the highest number recorded since 1991. Reported incidents in the Singapore Straits are up from 15 in 2020 and just one incident in 2019. These attacks are low‐level and opportunistic in nature, but IMB warns that the perpetrators pose a direct threat to seafarers and vessels underway. In four incidents, crew were either threatened, assaulted, or injured.

    Concern off the coast of Peru
    The Callao Anchorage in Peru is another area that has witnessed an increase of piracy activity with 15 reported incidents in 2021 – the highest number since 1991. As with the Singapore Straits, these incidents are low‐level thefts with knives being reported in 60% of the incidents. Attackers in the region possess the capacity to carry out violent attacks with three crew taken hostage and a further one each assaulted or threatened during the first nine months of 2021.

    Improvements in Indonesia
    The IMB PRC reported a noticeable reduction in the number of reported incidents in Indonesian waters with only six low‐level incidents reported in the first nine months of 2021, compared to 23 incidents during the same period in 2020. This is the lowest total of reported piracy and armed robbery incidents in Indonesian waters since 1993. The report commends the policies and proactive response measures implemented by the Indonesian Marine Police informed IMB PRC reporting.

     

    Summary Sheet Jan-Sept 2021

       

      Article shared by courtesy of IMB Piracy Reporting Centre: 

      Since its founding in 1991, IMB PRC remains a single point of contact to report all crimes of maritime
      piracy and armed robbery, 24 hours a day. Their prompt forwarding of reports, and liaison with
      response agencies, broadcasts to shipping via GMDSS Safety Net Services, and email alerts to CSOs,
      all provided free of cost, help the response against piracy and armed robbery and the security of
      seafarers, globally.

       

       

      Narjiss Ghajour Send an email October 14, 2021
      1,421 5 minutes read
      Photo of Narjiss Ghajour

      Narjiss Ghajour

      Editor-in-Chief of Maritime Professionals

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