The number of piracy incidents doubled off the coast of East Africa in 2017 compared to 2016, an international maritime body said in its latest report. This indicates that Somali criminal networks are still capable of sophisticated attacks, according to the report by One Earth Future (OEF)’s Oceans Beyond Piracy program. The report calls for new approach to combat maritime threats as the total number of piracy/armed robbery attacks against foreign vessels increased to 54 in 2017 compared to 27 in 2016. “Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA Japan) and the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC), the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia, today jointly launched the Capacity Building Executive Programme 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. Building on the success of the inaugural edition in 2017 which was specially organised for ASEAN maritime regulatory and enforcement agencies on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN, the 2018 edition will for the first time see the participation of senior ...

Naval Dome, the maritime cyber security system provider, has welcomed the Charter of Trust initiative implemented by German technology group Siemens and which has since welcomed a “who’s who” of global technology companies and brands. The Charter looks to address the cyber security challenges that arise from increasingly digitalised, “cloud”-based infrastructure, businesses and industrial environments. The initiative aims to establish a reliable basis “where confidence in a networked, digital world can take root and grow”. Encouraging shipping industry leaders to support the development or to establish a maritime-specific cyber charter ...

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

East Africa and Indian Ocean Eritrea: Merchant vessel reports attack in southern Red Sea 10 May A merchant vessel reported that it came under attack 28 nm off the Eritrean coast in the southern Red Sea at 2315 hrs local time, although further details of the incident remain unconfirmed. The report coincided with unconfirmed reports that a bulk carrier sustained damage after coming under fire from a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) off Hodeidah. PGI Analysis: The unconfirmed report comes weeks after the Yemeni Houthi militant group claimed an RPG attack in ...

A ship carrying Russian wheat to Yemen was hit by a missile last week near its destination, highlighting the risk of supplying a market that’s embroiled in a conflict. The missile exploded Thursday inside the hold of the Ince Inebolu, which was carrying about 50,000 metric tons of wheat and anchored 70 miles (113 kilometers) off the coast of Yemen, according to Istanbul-based Ince Shipping Group, the vessel owner. The captain reported no casualties and the wheat wasn’t damaged. It’s unclear who fired the missile. Ince Shipping said the ship ...

The Council yesterday adopted a decision allowing for the creation of a crime information cell within EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia. The information cell will be composed of up to 10 staff members from relevant law enforcement authorities of member states and from the EU agencies FRONTEX and EUROPOL in order to improve information sharing between them. The cell will be tasked to facilitate the receipt, collection and transmission of information on human smuggling and trafficking, the implementation of the UN arms embargo on Libya, illegal trafficking, as well as crimes ...

Changes in the cyber security industry A recent set of attacks against critical infrastructure entities, such as oil and gas pipeline operators, utilities and even some city and state governments reveal new motives and methods. The attackers were not out to steel data but were looking to disrupt services. The attackers used a new attack vector that has not been seen before. Instead of attacking their primary targets directly, they attacked less secure vendors that those targets use. We will be looking at how they did this and then how ...

The members of the crew of the Ukrainian fishing vessel YAMK-0041 that Russian border guards detained near Russian-annexed Crimea could be accused of terrorism. This assumption on Radio Krym.Realii was expressed by Deputy Head of State Border Service of Ukraine Oleh Slobodyan. Slobodyan explained that the Russian government is now trying to make the crew criminally responsible for anything from terrorism to arms smuggling. He said the objective is to paint the crew as not simply offenders but saboteurs. The Deputy Head said that even setting aside the illegality of ...

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

Seafarers held captive as a result of an act of piracy or armed robbery against ships will continue to receive their wages and entitlements during their period of captivity under amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006) adopted by the Special Tripartite Committee of the MLC, 2006 at a recent meeting at the ILO in Geneva. The amendments will be submitted for approval at the 28 May-8 June, 2018 International Labour Conference . ‘Tripartism and social dialogue played a key role in the process of adoption ...

South East Asia Indonesia: Robbers board vessel near Tanjung Beraki 29 April An unknown number of robbers boarded an anchored heavy lift vessel between 2300 – 0600 hrs local time, approximately 16 nm northeast of Tanjung Berakit. The crew reported that the robbers had broken into various padlocked parts of the vessel but had not stolen anything. Indonesia: Robbers board cargo ship off Muara Berau 28 April Four robbers armed with knives boarded the Apollo Troth, a Panama-flagged cargo ship anchored near Muara Berau at approximately 2130 hrs local time. ...

Four agreements pertaining to enhanced state coordination for maritime security in the western Indian Ocean were signed during a ministerial conference hosted by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the government of Mauritius, with the support of the European Union, an observer member of the IOC. The event was convened to address common threats like piracy and illegal fishing faced by states in the western Indian Ocean region. For instance, $13 billion was lost to maritime piracy in the western Indian Ocean in 2013, and losses as a result of ...

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) unveiled plans to buy more weapons, including pistols, machine guns and water assets this year to beef up their fighting capability at sea. PCG spokesman Capt. Armand Balilo said the weapons and water assets will cost the government about 1 billion pesos (around 20 million U.S. dollars). Balilo also said the PCG has recently acquired 70 Travor sub-machine guns 9 mm worth 10 million pesos (around 200 thousand U.S. dollars). He said the weapons were delivered to the PCG on Monday. PCG commandant Rear Adm. ...

The high level of insecurity in Nigerian waterways has ignited a fresh anger within the nation’s maritime domain, raising further questions as to the propriety of the $195 million contract awarded to an Israeli firm, HLSI Security Systems and Technologies, to secure the country’s maritime space. In one of the most recent incidents, suspected pirates on Saturday April 21, 2018, kidnapped12 crew members on a Dutch cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria. The attack occurred early in the morning as the vessel was nearing the Port Harcourt, port in ...