Courtsy of the Finnish navy a pirate dhow goes sky-high, but so are piracy incidents claims IMB
Piracy at sea hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2011, with 142 attacks worldwide, claims the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) global piracy.
The sharp rise was driven by a surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia, where 97 attacks were recorded in the first quarter of 2011, up from 35 in the same period last year. Continue reading »
The latest report issued by the Piracy Reporting Centre, PRC, of the International Maritime Bureau,IMB, records 196 incidents worldwide in the first six months of 2010. A total of 31 vessels were hijacked, 48 fired upon, 70 boarded and 47 vessels reported attempted attacks. Guns were used in 100 incidents and knives in 35 incidents. During this period one crew was killed, 597 crew were taken hostage and 16 injured. A total of 240 incidents were reported in the corresponding period in 2009 to the 24 hour manned PRC.
The decline in the number of attacks in 2010 is due to the reduction in incidents in the Gulf of Aden with 33 incidents in 2010 compared to 86 in 2009. Attacks in the Somali basin and the wider Indian Ocean have however increased from 44 in 2009 to 51 in 2010.
The IMB Live Piracy Report (replacing the Weekly Piracy Report) displays all Piracy and Armed Robbery incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre in the last ten days. Click on the map for more details.
| Incident Details: | Location Map |
|---|---|
| 29.01.2009: 0340 UTC: Posn: 14:10N – 049:58E: Gulf of Aden.
Heavily armed pirates in a speed boat chased and fired upon a LPG tanker underway. Pirates boarded and hijacked the tanker and are sailing it to an undisclosed location in Somalia. Further reports awaited. |
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| 29.01.2009: 0345 LT: Posn: 06:10.4S – 108:25.5E, Balongan anchorage, Indonesia.
Four robbers boarded a chemical tanker at anchor. They tried to enter into the accommodation but were noticed by the duty crew who raised the alarm. Upon hearing the alarm, the robbers climbed down into their boat and escaped. Master broadcast a security alert message to all ships in the vicinity and tried to call Balongan radio but received no response. |
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| 29.01.2009: 0620 UTC: Posn: 12:27.7N – 044:10.5E, Gulf of Aden.
Armed pirates in a six speed boats surrounded a bulk carrier underway. Master raised alarm, took evasive manoeuvres and crew activated fire hoses. One of the speedboats chased the vessel for about one mile. Seeing the alert crew and the aggressive manoeuvres the pirates stopped chasing the ship. Later the Master noticed another five boats waiting in the vicinity of the ship. Master immediately activated SSAS and contacted the coalition forces. A Chinese coalition helicopter arrived at 0710 UTC and chased the pirates away. Later, a German coalition navy arrived at the location. Ship continues her voyage. |
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| 28.01.2009: 23.40 UTC: Posn: 06:43.7S – 039:18.5E, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Four robbers in a small wooden boat attempted to climb onboard an anchored container vessel. Alert duty watchmen informed the duty officer who raised the general alarm and directed the ship search light towards the robbers. Seeing that they were noticed the robbers aborted and moved away. Port control was informed. |
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| 27.01.2009: 0636 UTC: Gulf of Aden.
A crude oil tanker sighted a suspicious blue-hull speed boat, 10m length with 5-6 people on Hdg 358° Speed 14 kts. Vessel reported the craft to Indian warship in the vicinity. Helicopter deployed by the vessel. The warship later proceeded to the position and arrested the five pirates along with their weapons ammunition. THIS INCIDENT NOT INCLUDED IN IMB STATISTICS |
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If you’ve read our postings on pirates and listened to The Lessons From The Danica White you’ll know about the motherships used by pirates to launch smaller boats to attack ships. The International Maritime Bureau has released photographs of what it believes may be motherships together with the advice below:
“To all ships transiting the Gulf of Aden
Please be advised that intelligence sources revealed that there are now two suspicious trawlers in the Gulf of Aden believed to be pirate mother vessels looking to attack ships with the intent to hijack.
The description of the suspected trawlers – long white, Russian made stern trawlers with names “BURUM OCEAN or ARENA or ATHENA”. One of the trawlers is believed to be operating at approximately 60 NM NE of Bossasso, Somalia in the Gulf of Aden.
All ships are strongly advised to maintain a strict 24 hours visual and radar watch while transiting these waters and report any attacks or suspicious boats including the trawlers named above to the 24 hour IMB PRC. Tel: +603 2031 0014 / +603 2078 5763 email: piracy@icc-ccs.org
Suspected Pirate Mother Vessels:
BURUM OCEAN
BURUM OCEAN
ARENA or ATHENA
Source: Coalition Forces
An up-to-date map of piracy incidents from th International Maritime Bureau is HERE
The International Chamber of Commerce’s Weekl;y Piracy Report is HERE
Piracy Help lines:
Reporting of incidents
Ships are advised to maintain anti-piracy watches and report all piratical attacks and suspicious movements of craft to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia .
Tel + 60 3 2078 5763
Fax + 60 3 2078 5769
Telex MA34199 IMBPCI
E-mail IMBKL@icc-ccs.org
24 Hours Anti Piracy HELPLINE Tel: ++ 60 3 2031 0014
