According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) annual piracy report, more crew were kidnapped at sea in 2016 than in any of the previous ten years, despite global piracy reaching its lowest levels since 1998.
In its 2016 report, IMB recorded 191 incidents of piracy and armed robbery on the world's seas. IMB warns certain shipping routes remain dangerous, and states the escalation of crew kidnapping is a worrying trend.
Piracy and Kidnappings Statistics
Worldwide in 2016, 150 vessels were boarded, 12 vessels were fired upon, 7 were hijacked, and 22 attacks were thwarted. The number of hostages fell to 151. Maritime kidnappings, however, showed a threefold increase on 2015. Pirates kidnapped 62 people for ransom in 15 separate incidents in 2016. Just over half were captured off West Africa, while 28 were kidnapped from tugs, barges, fishing boats, and more recently merchant ships, around Malaysia and Indonesia.
Sulu Sea Kidnappings
The kidnapping of crew from ocean going merchant vessels in the Sulu Sea and their transfer to the Southern Philippines represents a notable escalation in attacks. In the last quarter, 12 crew were kidnapped from 2 cargo vessels underway and an anchored fishing vessel, and in November a bulk carrier was fired upon, but pirates were not able to board the vessel. Earlier in 2016, crew members were kidnapped in 3 attacks on vulnerable slow-moving tugs and barges.
IMB advises charterers and owners to consider avoiding the Sulu Sea by routing vessels West of Kalimantan.
Nigeria Hotspot
The Gulf of Guinea remained a kidnap hotspot in 2016, with 34 crew taken in 9 separate incidents. 3 vessels were hijacked. There was a noticeable increase in attacks reported off Nigeria: 36 incidents in 2016, up from 14 in 2015. These included 9 of the 12 vessels fired upon worldwide in 2016. Some were almost 100 nautical miles from the coastline.
Meanwhile, Indonesian piracy incidents fell from 108 in 2015 to 49 in 2016. Although the overwhelming majority were low-level thefts, vessels were boarded in all but 3 of the incidents.
Somalia Risk
IMB recorded 2 incidents off Somalia. Pirates attempted to attack a container vessel in the Gulf of Aden in May, and fired on a product tanker in the Somali basin some 300 nm from shore in October. For IMB, this latest incident demonstrates that the capacity and intent to attack merchant shipping still exists off Somalia.
Elsewhere
Peru reported 11 incidents – 10 of them at the country's main port of Callao – compared to 0 in 2015. The number of incidents in Vung Tau, Vietnam dropped from 15 in 2015 to 7 in 2016. Bangladesh went down from 11 in 2015 to 3 in 2016.
The full 2016 Piracy Report can be requested from the IMB website.
Picture: Total incidents per region in 2016 (by IMB).
