ReCAAP (The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia) issues Monthly Report; Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships In Asia – July 2020

In July 2020, six incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. Of the six incidents, five were actual incidents and one was an attempted incident. All five actual incidents were incidents of armed robbery against ships, and the attempted incident was a piracy incident that occurred in the South China Sea. All incidents have been verified and reported to the ReCAAP ISC by ReCAAP Focal Points.

There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah, Malaysia in July 2020. However, the abduction of crew for ransom remains a serious concern as demonstrated by the Warning issued by the ReCAAP ISC on 2 July that five Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members were planning to conduct abduction of the crew from ships passing by Tawi-Tawi and Sabah waters.

The ReCAAP ISC is also concerned about the continued occurrence of incidents on board ships while underway in the Singapore Strait. Three incidents were reported in July 2020. With these, a total of 19 incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait during January-July 2020 comprising 15 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), two incidents in the precautionary area, one incident in the westbound lane of the TSS and one incident just outside (south) of the TSS.

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