The 13th Governing Council Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC was held on 19 to 22 March 2019 in Singapore, hosted by the Singapore Government. The Council reviewed the activities of ReCAAP ISC in FY2018 and deliberated on its activities for FY2019 and beyond. On 22 March 2019, the Open Session was held with External Participants comprising representatives from three countries and 13 organisations. The Council commended ReCAAP ISC on producing positive results in respect to its activities in FY2018 under the three pillars of its mission, i.e., information sharing, capacity ...

Seafarers working on international ships face threats of maritime piracy and heightened security risks. They and their families suffer anxiety and losses when the seafarers are injured, held in captivity or worst, killed. In September 2010, George Joseph and his 14 Indian crewmates were taken captive while working aboard their cargo ship off the Tanzanian coast. Recounting the experience to CGTN, George said: “They tightened our hands from the back and leg with rope. It was very hot, around afternoon time. Then they started beating us and told us to ...

Piracy attacks in the country have been linked to crew members that are off duty leading others to attack their own vessels. This is even as stakeholders have called for improved safety and security training for seafarers to ward off piracy attacks on the nation’s waterways. Retired Naval Admiral Dele Ezioba, who spoke at the meeting organised by the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, NCS, in Lagos said nine out of every 10 pirate attacks on the nation’s waterways have insider inputs. Ezioba recalled an incidence where a crew member of ...

Warnings, advisories and piracy incidents in the Indian Ocean Area by the UKMTO in the past week.

Indian Ocean HRA Overview The threat of piracy still exists in the waters of the Southern Red Sea/ Bab el Mandeb, Gulf of Aden including Yemen and the northern Somali coast, Arabian Sea/Gulf of Oman and off the eastern and southern Somali coastline. Although the opportunity for attacks has reduced, Somali pirates continue to possess the motivation and capability to carry out attacks. Reported incidents HRA 15th – 21st March There have been no reported piracy incidents reported in the High Risk Area (HRA) during this reporting period. Ongoing threats ...

Anti-piracy equipment developer ARX Maritime has unveiled a four-fold rise in revenues after enjoying rapid international growth. Sales at the Edinburgh-based firm, which develops self-install anti-piracy barriers to protect seafaring vessels, have risen by 300 per cent year-on-year since the business was formed in 2016. It has since expanded to supply risk prevention products to clients in more than 65 countries and now employs 12 staff at its base in the Scottish capital. Ex-Royal Marine Steve Regis founded ARX with business partner Josh Hutchinson after spotting a gap in the ...

Americas Brazil: Robbers board bulk carrier at Macapa port 10 March Two robbers armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier using rope at Macapa port, Amapa state, at about 0130 hrs local time. Crew spotted the robbers and informed the officer on duty, who sounded the alarm. The robbers reportedly escaped upon hearing the alarm. Nothing was reported stolen and the incident was reported to port authorities. PGI Analysis: Robberies are frequently reported in Brazilian waters along the Amazon river. However, robberies at ports occur less frequently. Robbers are often ...

Imagine you are an Information Security Manager for a shipping company and while docked in port, a service technician boards your ship to perform a software update of the Voyage Data Recorder system and unknowingly introduces a virus. As a result of the virus the ship’s ECDIS system becomes infected resulting in a denial of service once you’ve set sail. The ship is now sailing without ECDIS and the last course direction was towards North Korean waters. What do you do next? That exact scenario was played out with 60 ...

On 6 November the United Nations (UN) Security Council renewed the authorization for international naval forces to carry out anti-piracy measures off Somalia’s coast. It is now 10 years since the first resolution was passed in 2008 to respond to piracy and robbery against humanitarian and commercial ships in the region. At the time, piracy was considered a major threat to both local and global peace and security. Since then, and especially since 2013, the number of attacks and hijackings has dropped. Recent incidents have however raised concerns over the ...

Emerging maritime challenges were at the forefront of discussions at the 11th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Inter-Sessional Meeting (ISM) on Maritime Security in Da Nang, Viet Nam, (14-15 March). Participants had the opportunity to exchange views on regional maritime issues, review progress of their maritime security work plan, and discuss proposed activities over the coming year. IMO took the opportunity to update ARF members on IMO’s work in Asia and told senior maritime officials of potential future technical cooperation projects in the region. IMO also talked about improving the implementation, ...

Warnings, advisories and piracy incidents in the Indian Ocean Area by the UKMTO in the past week.

Globally, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, based in Singapore, recorded 201 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery in 2018, up from 180 in 2017. The Gulf of Guinea remained increasingly dangerous for seafarers as reports of attacks in waters between the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo more than doubled in 2018. The expansion of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea poses a dire threat to local economies, potentially undermining what little stability currently exists in the region. Oil revenue, which many countries in ...

Totem Plus has signed a licence agreement with Naval Dome for use of its award-winning maritime cyber security software across a range of its advanced automation and navigation solutions. Under the agreement, Totem Plus is licensed to integrate the Naval Dome software with the hard drives across several hundred systems in the Totem Plus portfolio, providing the highest level of cyber protection at the system build stage, prior to shipment to end-users. The Totem Plus systems leave the factory fully cyber protected by Naval Dome. Capt. Azriel Rahav, Chief Executive ...

East Africa and Indian Ocean Iran: Navy claims to foil piracy attempt on oil tanker 07 March The navy claimed to have foiled a pirate attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, state-TV news reported. Some 11 speedboats reportedly attacked the tanker, which was carrying 150,000 tonnes of oil. Navy vessels reportedly fired warning shots. Authorities did not disclose the identity of the presumed pirates. Local media have not independently verified the claims. PGI Analysis: The Iranian navy has increased its presence in the Gulf of Aden ...

A total of three incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia in February 2019. There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah; and no hijacking of ships for theft of oil cargo reported in February 2019. However, the abduction of crew for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah remains a serious concern. FEBRUARY 2019 NUMBER OF INCIDENTS In February 2019, three actual incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported. The incidents have been ...