Weekly Piracy Report

Recently reported incident from the IMB:

16.12.2007: 2115 UTC: 08:48.5N-013:57.0W: Sierra Leone. Eight pirates armed with ak47 guns in military like fatigues boarded a chemical tanker underway.  They stole crew personal belongings, ship’s properties and escaped.  No injuries to crew.

09.12.2007: 1800 LT: 16 NM Off Coroni shore, Suriname. Five masked pirates armed with guns approached the fishing vessel underway. They fired several shots and ordered the crew to lie on the icebox. They then locked the crew in the fish pen.  The pirates took hostage 2 crewmembers at gunpoint and ordered them to discharge the fish into their boat. Before leaving, the pirates stole a drum of gasoline, one propeller, vessel’s property and two cell phones. They destroyed the fishing vessel’s engine coil and escaped. The fishing vessel was drifting until the next day afternoon, when another fishing boat towed them to Mahaica bridge area. Incident reported to Mahaica police station.

11.11.2007: 0500 LT: Corentyne river, Guyana. The captain and crew of 22 fishing vessels of the number 66 fish complex were left stranded after armed pirates robbed them of their gasoline, engine coils and a quantity of fish glue. Three of the boats returned to the fish complex while many other fishermen were forced to swim to the Coroni shore in Suriname. Rescue teams have gone out to search for the other boats.

04.11.2007: Early hours: Bonny river, Niger delta, Nigeria. Eight pirates, in a speedboat, armed with guns boarded a vessel underway. They shot one crewmember dead and wounded the others. Pirates ransacked the vessel and stole vessel’s property and escaped.

17.12.2007: 0430 LT: 14:35.2N-120:52.5E: Manila north anchorage, Philippines. Eight armed pirates boarded a contained ship, at anchor, awaiting berthing instructions.  They were spotted by the anti piracy watch and reported to the D/O.  Alarm raised and crew alerted.  The pirates jumped overboard and escaped in a waiting boat.  Nothing was stolen.

30.09.2007: 1900 LT: 14:36.65N – 120:53.25E, Manila international container terminal, Manila, Philippines. During heavy rain and poor visibility, robbers boarded a container ship unnoticed via the anchor chain. They broke into the CO2 room and stole eight pieces of extension cable for the refrigerator containers and a liferaft. Upon discovery of the robbery, master reported to the port state control centre and the Philippines coast guard. Coast guard conducted investigation and advised to take precautionary measures.

11.09.2007:0030 LT: off Tioman island waters, Malaysia. Six pirates, in a small high-speed boat, armed with knives boarded a tanker underway. They assaulted all six crewmembers. The captain, received head injures and the crewmembers were robbed off their documents and clothing’s.

08.09.2007: 2100 LT: 01:26.8N – 104:21.4E, 3.5 NM off TG. Punggai, Kota Ttinggi, Malaysia. Seven pirates, in a wooden boat, armed with guns and knives approached a tanker underway. They boarded the tanker and tied up the master and seven crewmembers with nylon ropes.  One crew jumped overboard.  Pirates stole cash and personal belongings of master and crew.  They left the ship and headed into Indonesian waters.  No injuries to crewmembers. The crew who jumped overboard is missing.

19.08.2007: 0100 LT: 06:03.1S – 115:32.84E, approximately 120NM North of Bali, Indonesia. The master onboard tug SM V discovered that the workboat, Anchor 2, was missing. It was subsequently located at 2150 LT on 20.10.2007. On investigation, it was found that the towing rope was missing. The right side glass window, the doors leading to the steering console and the navigational control were broken. The CSO suspected that some pirates had boarded the unmanned anchor 2 and cut off the towing rope and set the workboat adrift. Incident reported to coastal state and flag state.