Web Alert: The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) publishes its third quarter report on piracy and armed robbery for 2017

The IMB has published its report on piracy and armed robbery for the third quarter of 2017, covering the period from 1 January to 30 September 2017. Whilst piracy rates were down compared to the same period in 2016, the report highlights continuing concern over attacks in the Gulf of Guinea and in Southeast Asia.

121 incidents have been reported in the first nine months of 2017, with 92 ships boarded, 11 attempted attacks, five ships hijacked and 13 ships fired upon.

In relation to crew, the IMB reports that 80 crew members were taken hostage, three injured, two killed and 49 kidnapped.

The majority of the 121 reported incidents occurred in the following five countries:

Southeast Asia/Indonesia

The number of low-level incidents off Indonesia continues to show improvement. Piracy incidents in the Straits of Malacca have ceased and no hijackings and kidnappings have been reported in the Sulu Sea.

Gulf of Guinea/Nigeria

A total of 20 reports against all vessel types were received for Nigeria, 16 of which occurred off the coast of Brass, Bonny and Bayelsa. Guns were reportedly used in 18 of the incidents and vessels were underway in 17 out of 20 reports. 39 of the 49 crewmembers kidnapped globally were kidnapped off Nigeria in seven separate incidents.

Gulf of Aden/Somalia

No incidents were reported off the coast of Somalia in this quarter. However, the successful attacks from earlier in the year indicate that Somali pirates still have the capability and capacity to carry out attacks. The IMB urges ship masters to maintain high levels of vigilance when transiting the high-risk area and adhere to the Best Management Practices (version 4).

Other

There has also been an increase in attacks off the coast of Venezuela and other security incidents against vessels off Libya, including an attempted boarding in the last quarter. These incidents highlight the need for vigilance in other parts of the world.

Attack by ship-type

The main ship-types affected are as follows.

For further information, please contact your usual contact at the club or the authors of this article.