IMB: Piracy incidents fall in 2016 despite more crew kidnappings

International Maritime Bureau Director Pottengal Mukundan said kidnappings in the Sulu Sea, which is located between East Malaysia and the Philippines, are a particular concern.    The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said more crew were kidnapped at sea in 2016 than in any of the previous 10 years, despite global piracy reaching its lowest levels since 1998.
   The bureau, part of the International Chamber of Commerce, recorded 191 incidents of piracy and armed robbery on the world’s seas in 2016, down from 246 reported incidents in 2015.
   Throughout 2016, 150 vessels were boarded, 12 were fired upon, seven were hijacked, and 22 attacks were thwarted. The number of hostages fell to 151.
   However, maritime kidnappings showed a threefold increase in 2016 from a year prior, with pirates kidnapping 62 people for ransom in 15 separate incidents. “Just over half were captured off West Africa, while 28 were kidnapped from tugs, barges, fishing boats, and more recently merchant ships, around Malaysia and Indonesia,” the IMB said.
   “The kidnappings in the Sulu Sea between East Malaysia and the Philippines are a particular concern,” said IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan, whose Piracy Reporting Center has monitored world piracy since 1991.
   The IMB, which has advised charterers and owners to consider avoiding the Sulu Sea, explained how there has been a rise in attacks where crews are kidnapped from ocean going merchant vessels in the Sulu Sea and then transferred to the Southern Philippines. In the fourth quarter, 12 crew members in the Sulu Sea were kidnapped from two cargo vessels underway and an anchored fishing vessel, while in November, a bulk carrier was fired upon, but pirates were not able to board the vessel. Earlier last year, crew members were kidnapped in three attacks on slow-moving tugs and barges in the sea.
   In addition to West Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Sulu Sea, other piracy hot spots include:
     • The Gulf of Guinea off of Nigeria;
     • Somalia;
     • The Port of Callao in Peru;
     • Vung Tau, Vietnam;
     • And Bangladesh.
   In the Gulf of Guinea, 34 crew were kidnapped during nine separate incidents in 2016, while piracy incidents rose from 14 in 2015 to 36 in 2016.
   However, there were just two incidents off of Somalia in 2016. In May, pirates attempted to attack a container vessel in the Gulf of Aden, and in October, pirates fired on a product tanker in the Somali basin some 300 nautical miles from shore.
   Peru reported 11 incidents in 2016 compared to zero in 2015. Ten of the 11 incidents were reported at the Port of Callao.
   Vung Tau saw seven incidents last year, down from 15 in 2015, while Bangladesh experienced thee incidents compared to 11 in 2015.