According to the latest report from The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Category 1, 2 and 3 incidents were among the lowest during the 10 year period of January – September, 2009 to 2018

The highest level of incidents were Category 4, which includes petty theft.

January – September 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 shows improvement with a decrease of incidents at ports and anchorage in the Philippines and a decrease in the abduction of crew for ransom. There were also no successful hijackings of ships for theft of oil cargo. Unfortunately though there are still areas of concern as there was an increase in incidents in the Singapore Strait, and incidents at ports/anchorages particularly in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Despite the decrease of incidents, the risk of kidnapping is still high in Sulu-Celebes Seas and Water off Eastern Sabah, as demonstrated by the latest incident on 11 September, 2018 when two Indonesian crew were kidnapped from the fishing boat Sri Dewi 1

As of 30th September 2018, the status of abducted crew is,  of the 63 kidnapped, 48 have been rescued or released, 8 remain in captivity and 7 were killed.

ReCAAP continues to advise ships who transit through the areas of concern to exercise enhanced vigilance, maintain all round look-out for suspicious approaches, report incidents to the nearest coastal state, and to implement preventative measures as recommended in the Regional Guide to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia.