Seacurus Launches South-East Asian Petro-Piracy Coverage
Specialist marine insurance intermediary Seacurus has launched a petro-piracy endorsement for ships operating in the South China Sea, Malacca Straits, Indonesian Archipelago and Gulf of Guinea. South-East Asia accounted for three-quarters of global maritime piracy last year, according to figures published by the International Maritime Bureau. A surge in tanker hijackings helped fuel a 22 per cent jump in armed robbery and pirate attacks on ships in the region. There were 183 actual and attempted incidents of piracy and robbery in South-East Asian waters last year, compared to 150 in 2013.
SE Asia Tanker Hijacks Up
Attacks against small tankers off South East Asia’s coasts caused a rise in global ship hijackings, up to 21 in 2014 from 12 in 2013, despite piracy at sea falling to its lowest level in eight years, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed. Pirates took 442 crewmembers hostage, compared with 304 in 2013. IMB’s annual piracy report shows 245 incidents were recorded worldwide in 2014 – a 44% drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011. Somali pirates were responsible for 11 attacks, all of which were thwarted.
Maritime Piracy: Attacks Down, SE Asia Remains Problematic
While the issue of maritime piracy has largely fallen from the public eye, with the rapid evolution of the 24/7/365 news cycle and a never-ending list of new and globally interesting headlines, such as Ebola, there remains concerns of piracy’s effects on the broader maritime market, particularly in SE Asia. According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report, maritime pirate attacks globally are down for three years running, but there is a worrisome trend of small tanker hijacks by armed gangs escalating in Southeast Asia.
Worrying Trend of Tanker Hijacks in SE Asian Waters: IMB
The Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) raises concerns over a worrying trend of small tanker hijacks in its 2014 half yearly report. Globally, 116 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships have been reported to the PRC in the first six months of 2014, down on the 138 incidents for the corresponding period for 2013. In 2014, 10 vessels were hijacked, seven fired upon, 78 boarded and 21 vessels reported attempted attacks against their vessels. Two hundred crewmembers were taken hostage, five kidnapped from their vessels and there were two fatalities according to the report.
ICC: Beware Spurious Oil Fraud Claims
The ICC reported that shipowners are facing new dangers from criminal gangs making spurious oil fraud claims. The “victims”/fraudsters try to extort money from owners by bringing action against them for failing to deliver cargoes of oil they allegedly own. Such scams were previously confined to West Africa, ICC said, but now appear to have spread to other countries, as a case reported recently to the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows. It involves a vessel that trades regularly into the Arabian Gulf. A claim has been lodged against the shipowner to recover over $50 million, the full value of a consignment of oil.
