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23 Aug 2007
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Weekly Piracy Report
2-8 October 2007
 
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Weekly Piracy Report
2-8 October 2007

The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 2 to 8 October 2007.

ALERT

Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Fifty two incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.

The 2006 Annual IMB Report on Piracy and Armed Attacks against Ships is now published. Please see the end of this page to order.

Suspicious crafts

Recently reported incidents

03.10.2007: 0300 UTC: Conakry anchorage, Guinea.

Duty crew on an anchored bulk carrier, noticed two robbers stealing ship stores on the forecastle. Alarm raised and ships whistle sounded. The crew mustered and directed the ships search lights towards the robbers. The robbers escaped. Ships in the vicinity were informed. All calls to port authorities were futile.



07.10.2007: 0210 LT: 01:14.2N - 104:59.3E, Off Bintan islands, Indonesia.

Pirates in a small speedboat approached a bulk carrier underway. The master altered course to avoid the boat however, the boat continued to approach the ship. Alarm raised, ship whistle sounded and crew. Mustered seeing the alert crew the boat aborted the attempt and moved away. Singapore port control informed.



04.10.2007: 0640 UTC: 25:22N - 058:05E, Off Iran coast, Gulf of Oman.

Nine pirates armed with guns, wearing masks in three high-speed crafts approached a bulk carrier underway. Master raised alarm and crew mustered on ford and aft stations. Anti piracy, measures implemented. After around two hours of chasing the ship, the pirates aborted the attempt.



01.10.2007: 2230 LT: Callao anchorage no.1, Peru.

Duty crew spotted three robbers near the forecastle, on a general cargo ship at anchor. OOW raised the alarm. Ship's whistle sounded and crew rushed to forward. On seeing the crew, robbers jumped overboard and escaped in a waiting boat. Crew searched the area and found some ship stores missing.



30.09.2007: 0530 LT: 06:46.4S-039:20.9E, Dar es Salaam anchorage, Tanzania.

During routine anti piracy rounds, the aft duty AB discovered the forward AB tied up near the bunker station. He informed the duty officer who raised the alarm and mustered the crew. The crew noticed that two containers had been broken into and some ships stores missing. The released AB said that during his rounds on the main deck, two robbers armed with knives attacked him and tied him up.  He said that he had noticed six robbers all wearing only shorts. Port Authorities informed.



29.09.2007: 1458 UTC: 13:52N - 050:35E, Gulf of Aden

A vessel underway, noticed on radar only an unlit suspicious craft at a distance of 7.2 nm. The master altered course and increased speed. The craft altered course to continue following the ship. The master alerted the crew, and took anti-piracy measures. Crew directed searchlights in the direction of the boat. At 1546 UTC craft altered course and stopped  following the ship.




Piracy prone areas and warnings

Mariners are warned to be extra cautious and to take necessary precautionary measures when transiting the following areas:

S E Asia and the Indian Sub Continent

  • Bangladesh : Sixty incidents have been reported since January 2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Most attacks reported at Chittagong anchorages and approaches. Though the number of attacks has fallen recently, the area is still listed as very high risk.
  • Indonesia : Balongan, Balikpapan, Belawan, Tanjong Priok (Jakarta). Generally be vigilant in other areas. Many attacks may have gone unreported.
  • Malacca straits : Though the number of attacks has dropped due to the increase and constant patrols by the littoral states relevant Authorities since July 2005, ships are advised to continue maintaining a strict anti piracy watch when transiting the straits.
  • Singapore Straits : Pirates seen attacking ships while at anchor but in the past several ships were attacked while underway.

Africa and Red Sea

  • Lagos (Nigeria): Pirates are violent and attacked/robbed/kidnapped crews. Generally be vigilant in other areas in Nigeria.
  • Dar es Salaam (Tanzania): Eighteen incidents have been reported since 05.06.2006. Pirates are targeting ships in port and anchorages.
  • Mombasa (Kenya)
  • Gulf of Aden / Red Sea : Numerous pirate attacks have been reported by ships and yachts in the Gulf of Aden/Red Sea. In the past, some of the vessels were fired upon.
  • Somalian waters : The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre has received 26 actual and attempted attacks so far this year. Many more attacks may have gone unreported. Some pirates are dangerous and would fire their automatic weapons at ships to stop them. Occasionally, they would use their RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) launchers at ships. Pirates are believed to be using “mother vessels” to launch attacks at very far distance from coast. These “mother vessel” is able to proceed to very far out to sea to launch smaller boats to attack and hijack passing ships. Eastern and Northeastern coasts are high risk areas for attacks and hijackings. Vessels not making scheduled calls to ports in Somalia should keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast, ideally more than 200 nautical miles. Mariners are also advised to report any suspicious boats to the Centre.

South and Central America and the Caribbean waters

  • BrazilThough the number of attacks has dropped in Santos. Ships are advised to continue to be vigilant.
  • Peru – Callao

Rest of the World

  • Arabian Sea – Sightings and calls from suspicious small boats. In some cases, boats chased the ships with unknown intent.

 

Inventus UAV

The Inventus UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) is a state-of-the-art reconnaissance system packaged in a highly efficient, highly stable flying wing form. Outfitted with cameras, the Inventus flies and covers a large ocean area and relays a real-time data link back to the ground station. This link provides real-time aerial surveillance and early warning of suspect or unauthorised craft movements to the coastal or law enforcement authority. Developed by Lew Aerospace, the Inventus is fully autonomous and can be launched and recovered even from a seagoing or patrol vessel. There are gas and electric formats and both fly in all weather conditions. Endorsed by the IMB the Inventus is yet another tool to aid in the maritime effort in its fight against piracy. For more information please visit www.inventus-uav.com

Secure-Ship

Secure-Ship is the most recent and effective innovation in the fight against piracy. It is a non-lethal, electrifying fence surrounding the whole ship, which has been specially adapted for maritime use. The fence uses 9,000-volt pulse to deter boarding attempts. An intruder coming in contact with the fence will receive an unpleasant non-lethal shock that will result in the intruder abandoning the attempted boarding. At the same time an alarm will go off, activating floodlights and a very loud siren. The IMB strongly recommends ship owners to install this device on board their ships. Further details can be obtained at www.secure-marine.com

ShipLoc

There are a number of reliable ship tracking devices available on the market today based upon Inmarsat and other satellite systems.

The IMB endorses ShipLoc, an inexpensive satellite tracking system, which allows shipping companies, armed only with a personal computer with Internet access, to monitor the exact location of their vessels. In addition to anti-hijacking role, ShipLoc facilitates independent and precise location of ships at regular intervals. ShipLoc is fully compliant with the IMO Regulation SOLAS XI-2/6 adopted during the diplomatic conference in December 2002, concerning a Ship Security Alert System. The ship security alert system regulation that will be put into place as of July 2004, requires ships of over 500 GT to be equipped with an alarm system in order to reinforce ship security. The system allows the crew, in case of danger, to activate an alarm button that automatically sends a message to the ship owner and to competent authorities. The message is sent without being able to be detected by someone on-board or by other ships in the vicinity. ShipLoc is contained in a small, discrete waterproof unit, which includes: an Argos transmitter, a GPS receiver, a battery pack in case of main power failure, and a flat antenna. ShipLoc is one of the most reliable systems available today. For more information, please visit www.shiploc.com

Reporting of incidents

Ships are advised to maintain anti-piracy watches and report all piratical attacks and suspicious movements of craft to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia .

Tel + 60 3 2078 5763
Fax + 60 3 2078 5769
Telex MA34199 IMBPCI
E-mail IMBKL@icc-ccs.org
24 Hours Anti Piracy HELPLINE Tel: ++ 60 3 2031 0014

IMB piracy reports (free) and other publications can be ordered from the publications page.

Piracy maps 2006

Piracy maps 2005

Piracy maps 2004

Piracy maps 2003

Piracy maps 2002

Piracy maps 2001

 
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