So far, May has been a very busy and dangerous month in the commercial sea lanes with a number of worrying incidents reported by the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre.

In one incident in Callao Anchorage, Peru, around four to five robbers wearing face masks boarded an anchored LNG tanker via the hawse pipe. They took hostage the duty crew on routine rounds. Alarm was raised, the ship’s whistle sounded and crew mustered. On hearing the alarm, the robbers took the duty crew’s radio, pushed him and escaped in their boat. The incident was reported to Port Control and a patrol boat was dispatched to the anchorage area.

A few days before in the Lome Anchorage, Togo, armed persons boarded and hijacked an anchored chemical tanker and took its crew hostage. The Togo Navy received a call from the owners that their tanker had been attacked and immediately responded by dispatching patrol boats to investigate. The tanker was intercepted 25nm from the anchorage area and forced to return to Lome port. The crew were reported safe and the armed persons were captured and handed over to the Authorities.

On the 12th May,  around 4nm East of Pulau Mapur, Indonesia, four robbers armed with long knives boarded a general cargo ship underway. They took hostage the duty AB and entered into the Master’s cabin. They tied up the AB and the Master and escaped with their personal cash and effects.

On the 5^th of May  approximately 48nm SW of Luba, Equatorial Guinea, pirates onboard a previously hijacked tug approached and boarded a heavy load carrier ship underway. Alarm sounded and the crew retreated into the citadel. Regional Authorities notified. A nearby Spanish Naval vessel and the Equatorial Guinean Navy responded to the incident resulting in the pirates escaping and the crews released. The tug and the ship were escorted by the Equatorial Guinean Navy to a safe port for further investigations.

These are just a few of the many incidents in May so far and clearly show that despite international efforts, piracy remains an ever present danger.

MARSS Automated Climber Detection – CLiMBERguard automatically detects, tracks and classifies intruders scaling the side of a vessel or structure, immediately alerting operators to the climber and its location.

CLiMBERguard has been developed from the MARSS man-overboard detection technology to provide higher probability of detection and low false alarm rates for vessel security.