Security consultants and the monitoring operation ReCAAP are warning of increased activity in the region around the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. It continues the trend which saw 62 vessels boarded and robbed while underway in the region in 2024.
Since the start of the year, ReCAAP has received reports of seven incidents with all but one in the region west of Pulau Cula, Indonesia. All but one of the cases also involved bulkers underway while one was a general cargo ship. An additional concern is that in all but one of the reports, the crew said the pirates were armed with guns or knives or in one case were carrying steel bars.
Historically most of the cases were…