Austal Or Lockheed Gets 3rd LCS In 2017?

Austal’s Alabama shipyard just got the first Littoral Combat Ship contract of 2017, an award of up to $548 million to build an Independence-class all-aluminum trimaran, the as-yet unnamed LCS-28. Lockheed Martin, which builds the steel-hulled Freedom-class LCS with Wisconsin shipyard Marinette Marine, is still in negotiations with the government, a Lockheed spokesman told me. The burning question as yet unresolved: Which of the two yards will get the third LCS in the 2017 budget?

LCS-2, USS Independence, shows off its unique “trimaran” design.

“There is a plan,” was all Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Alan Baribeau could tell me. “The Navy is unable to release detailed information at this time.”

Since the chronically controversial Littoral Combat Ship program began in 2005, the Navy has scrupulously split ships 50-50, with the Lockheed/Marinette team building all odd-numbered ships and Austal building the even numbers. But you can’t evenly split an odd number of ships, so one yard or the other will come out ahead this year — even if the Navy awards the other yard an extra ship next year to compensate.

At this point, it’s not even clear how many Littoral Combat Ships will be in the 2018 budget. The Trump administration’s official request for 2018 asks for only one, but right after the official budget roll-out officials promised to add a second. But they’ve not yet said how it would be funded. (Navy officials have denied a Bloomberg story outlining cuts elsewhere). The House Armed Services Committee has three LCS in its draft National Defense Authorization Act, but funding for those ships and, for that matter, the whole NDAA is more uncertain than I’ve ever seen it.

Why does divvying up the ships matter so much? Congress, of course, craves precious manufacturing jobs. For its part, the Navy argues that keeping both yards in business ensures competition and reduces costs much more effectively, over the long run, than having a once-and-for-all winner-take-all contest that would leave the Navy with a single supplier and no alternative.

LCS-3, USS Fort Worth

That industrial base argument is even more fraught now that the Navy plans to end production of the original LCS and start buying an upgunned frigate variant. Rather than buy two types of frigate, the Navy wants to purchase a single class of ships from a single supplier. (The Navy’s current plan is to buy a lot fewer frigates than vanilla LCS — either 10 frigates and 30 LCS or 12 and 28 — which means the frigate buy is too small to split economically between two yards). The frigate could go to Austal, to Marinette (with or without Lockheed), or to an entirely different firm with a different design, probably one of foreign origin.

To ensure both competition on price and the widest variety of designs to choose from, the Navy wants both Austal and Marinette bidding on the frigate. That, in turn, means keeping both yards in business until the contract is awarded in 2020. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says both yards already have such a big backlog of LCS work that the contracts they already have will keep them in business until 2020, but the Navy and the shipyards aren’t so sanguine. That’s why they’ll be taking this year’s third ship very, very seriously.

bt Breaking defence
By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on June 26, 2017 at 2:33 PM

How serious Indonesia fight the illegal fisherman?

Indonesia Is Blowing Illegal Fishing Boats Out of the Water

JAKARTA — 

Foreign fishing in Indonesian waters has long been a concern for the government, for which it has recently taken a literally explosive approach: blowing up illicit fishing boats. But Susi Pudjiastuti, the country’s wildly popular Minister of Marine Affairs, lobbied the United Nations last week to declare illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF) an organized crime, signaling growing frustration and a new approach from Jakarta.

That said, even if the U.N. takes this step, Indonesia faces an uphill battle in protecting its fisheries. As the world’s largest archipelagic nation, it has somewhere between 15,000 and 17,000 islands and many kilometers of unsecured coastline. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo created a task force to address illegal fishing in October 2015, which reports directly to him and gives the Navy, the National Police and the Maritime Security Agency wide jurisdiction to deter illegal fishing by any means necessary.

But the fleet and law enforcement personnel are still small given the scale of the problem, which costs Indonesia, by one estimate, $3 billion a year.

Surprisingly empowered task force

Task forces, or “Satgas” (satuan tugas in Bahasa Indonesia) are almost a punchline in Indonesian governance because they are created for a wide variety of issues and often with unclear mandates. But the fishing task force feels different, according to Mas Achmad Santosa, head of the IUUF Fisheries Task Force.

“This is the first time for Indonesians that the president has set up a task force and it actually works well,” Santosa told VOA. “Every element needed for enforcement is there: investigators [from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fishery, Marine Police, Coast Guard, and Navy], prosecutors under the attorney general’s office, and several experts from fields like money laundering and environmental law.”

There are about 60 dedicated members of this task force, but they work closely with the above institutions so their effective numbers are larger, Santosa said.

FILE - Debris flies into the air as illegal fishing boats are blown up, Feb. 22, 2016, by the Indonesian Navy off Batam Island, Indonesia. Blowing up illegal vessels has become somewhat of a local tourist attraction in Indonesia.

The task force only directly prosecutes cases with “elements of serious crime,” said Santosa, and they have prosecuted 42 such cases over the last year.

“But our fleet is far from sufficient, we must admit,” Santosa said. “Compared to our oceans, which are huge, the technology is limited.” They only have four patrol boats, for instance.

Since Jokowi took office in 2014, Indonesia has blown up over 300 illegal fishing boats, taking out 81 near Ambon over a single weekend last April. The eye-catching strategy has become something of a local tourist attraction. Its symbolic impact, though, could be larger.

“Blowing up boats is just one of our treatments. But we hope it creates a general deterrent effect,” Santosa said.

Charismatic leader

Indonesia's Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, known as “Bu Susi,” is a high school dropout turned entrepreneur with a knack for viral photo opportunities (smoking on a paddleboard, sleeping in an airport) and a no-nonsense style that has raised the profile of her relatively obscure ministry.

“It’s very important to have a strong leader, and she is a person of integrity who leads by example,” Santoso said.

Foreign fishing is concentrated in Maluku, Sumatra, and the Indian Ocean, according to the maritime ministry. Beyond that, there are also illicit Indonesian vessels that engage in what Santoso calls “unsustainable fishing that will destroy ecosystems.” So international cooperation is not a silver bullet; the task force’s inroads on domestic fishing will be equally important, and somewhat harder to attack in such a spectacular manner.

 Indonesia's Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti's no-nonsense style has raised the profile of her relatively obscure ministry. 

Domestic agenda

The Peoples Coalition for Fishery Justice (KIARA) has urged the maritime ministry to revise regulations that they say hinder the development of the local fishing industry.

“Today the biggest challenge faced by coastal communities, especially fishermen, is the investment from and development through foreign capital,” KIARA secretary-general Susan Herawati Romica told VOA. For instance, she said, on the island of Gili Sunut, Lombok, there are 109 households who have been displaced by construction on a Singaporean beach resort to more dangerous cliffside areas.

“Today, 90 percent of Indonesian fishermen are traditional fishermen with vessels that average below 10 gross tons,” she said. “They rely heavily on marine and coastal areas, but they still face major challenges in accessing the coast.”

According to KIARA data, there have been at least 34 recent cases of mine reclamation or development that have displaced local communities. “To that end, we say, if the country wants to push fisheries to provide the maximum benefit to coastal communities, then access to the sea [for local communities] should be guaranteed by the state.”

what Malaysia should do to tackle the problem of foreign fishermen ?

1. Right people for the Job. Change our minister.

2. Simplify the Prosecution  process 

3.  Strengthen the enforcement task

4.  The government must spend on technology to assist the enforcement squad to be effective.

Tanker burned and sank after explosion, 6 crew missing, Singapore Strait

 Friday, Jun 16 2017

Chemical tanker PUTRI SEA or AQUARIUS reported sank after explosion and fire on June 14 in position 4.6 nm southwest of Tanjung Pengelih, Malaysia, eastern Singapore Strait.

Tanker loaded with fuel was reported to Singapore CG as missing by its’ Singaporean agent, Singapore contacted Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), which sent patrol boat, but didn’t find tanker.

It was reported later, that tanker was on fire after explosion, 6 crew missing.

Local officials and media identify tanker as MT PUTRI SEA, MMEA mentioned IMO number, which is 8319160, belonging to a small Malaysia-flagged tanker AQUARIUS.

Most probably (if MMEA was correct with IMO No.), vessel changed name and flag, latest AIS dated morning June 14, southwest of Tanjung Pengelih.

All crew are Indonesians. SAR is under way.

SAR continues for missing crew members, MT Putri Sea vessel after explosion

By Rizalman Hammim - June 16, 2017 @ 6:36pm

JOHOR BARU: The search and rescue operation for the missing MT Putri Sea vessel and its crew members continued today with efforts being concentrated over a 35 square nautical miles area between waters off Tanjung Stapa and Teluk Ramunia.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Southern Region deputy director of operations Captain (Maritime) Sanifah Yusof said the operation involved assets and personnel from various agencies including MMEA, the Royal Malaysian Navy, marine police, the Marine Department and Johor Port.

"A total of seven assets and 50 personnel are involved in the operation," said Sanifah in a statement.

He said today's operation also includes measures to contain an oil spill and to place isolated danger buoy at locations where the vessel is believed to have sank.

"The cause of the incident is still being investigated and the Marine Department have issued a notice to identify the owner of the vessel," said Sanifah.

Yesterday, it was reported that the Equatorial Guinea-registered tanker had sank 4.6 nautical miles off Pengerang waters after an explosion where fire engulfed the vessel’s main engine room.

MMEA had said that they believed the ship had sunk based on a trail of fuel on the ocean’s surface.

There are six Indonesian crew members on board.

Royal Malaysian Navy locates wreck of MT Putri Sea

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) today managed to locate an underwater object, believed to be the wreck of MT Putri Sea, which sank approximately 4.6 nautical miles southwest of Tanjung Pengelih, near Pengerang, Johor early Thursday.

RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said the object was detected by RMN’s KD Perantau using multi-beam sonar.

“A team of navy divers is on the way to verify the object,” he tweeted on his official twitter account today.

Six Indonesian crew members were reported missing after an explosion on board the tanker which caused it sink.

The missing crewmen were identified as Akhmad Faharuddin, 35; Muhamad Heri Hernanda, 28; Abdur Rahem, 31; Rendy Alamanda, 28; Sulkifli, 39, and Yohanis Sumari, 35.

The MT Putri Sea was believed to be carrying crude oil and was registered in Malabo Port, Equatorial Guinea. — Bernama

Container ship capsized in Malacca Strait, two crew missing

 A container ship from Indonesia, KM Avatar, capsized in the Strait of Malacca today with two crew, the skipper and cook, reported missing after it was believed to be hit by strong waves.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director-general Admiral Maritime, Datuk Zulkifli Abu Bakar, said MMEA received a report from the Marine Department at 9.25 am and a rescue boat and helicopter were deployed to the scene of the incident at 10 am.

He said 13 of the ship crew were rescued by the merchant vessel, Undine which was passing through the location of the incident at about 11 nautical miles from Tanjung Kling, Malacca.

According to him, the medium sized 57-metre ship was half submerged and later capsized completely due to strong waves at the time MMEA received the report.

"Currently the search and rescue operation for the two missing crew are still ongoing. We also asked for assistance from other agencies for this operation," he told a media conference here today.

He said all the 13 survivors are still on board the merchant vessel, Undine.

Zulkifli said the cause of the accident was still under investigation but he did not rule out the possibility of it being caused by bad weather and strong waves.

A container ship from Indonesia, KM Avatar, capsized in the Strait of Malacca today with two crew, the skipper and cook, reported missing after it was believed to be hit by strong waves. - AFP photo

-- BERNAMA
June 14, 2017 16:38 MYT 

Two missing crew members of KM Avatar found this morning - MMEA

June 15, 2017 20:53 MYT

MELAKA: Two crew members of the container ship ''KM Avatar'', who went missing after the ship sank in the waters of Tanjung Kling yesterday, were found this morning, with one of them dead and the other alive.

Negeri Sembilan/Melaka Maritime director Capt Ahmad Faridi Ferdaus said the two were found 11.8 nautical miles from Tanjung Kling here at 9.40am this morning by a search and rescue team.

He said the victim who survived was the ship''s chef, known as Hermawan, 35, while the victim who died was it''s captain, Samuel Andianto Henuk, 52.

"The search and rescue (SAR) team found a crew member alive in a life raft, and another, who had died was found in the sea, nearby the location," he told reporters here today.

Ahmad Farid said it was understood that the survivor had swam to the raft left behind by 13 other crew members who were rescued yesterday.

"Both victims were taken to the Melaka General Hospital and handed over to the police for further investigation. The search and rescue operation was ended at 2pm today," he said adding the victim who survived was still weak and in trauma.

In the 9.25am incident yesterday, KM Avatar, a container ship from Indonesia sank in the Strait of Melaka after it was believed to have been hit by strong waves.

The ship was carrying 15 crew members, and 13 of them were rescued by a merchant ship passing through the area, while two others were reported missing.

-- BERNAMA

The search and rescue (SAR) team found a crew member alive in a life raft, and another, who had died was found in the sea, nearby the location. - BERNAMA pic

Public Urged To Report To MMEA On Any Sighting Of Containers From Sunken Ship

Last update: 17/06/2017

MELAKA, June 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has urged fishermen who sighted any food-laden container from the KM Avatar vessel which sank in the Strait of Melaka on June 14 to immediately lodge a report to the agency.

Melaka MMEA operations officer, Lt Maritime Muhammad Rasul Abdul Bakar said the fishermen who towed the containers to the jetty were not allowed to open or take possession of the goods found in the containers.

"Fishermen are prohibited from taking possession of the goods in the containers, but we will discuss with the cargo owners to reward the fishermen accordingly," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

He said this in response on the action of certain quarters in who had picked up food products from the containers belonging to KM Avatar in Teluk Gong yesterday.

Mohammed Rasul said the MMEA and the Marine Department had marked the plot (position) of the remaining 17 containers carried by the vessel and had informed the agent appointed by the shipping company.

"We are currently negotiating with the cargo owner how to manage the containers from the sunken ship," he said.

In the 9.25am incident on June 14, KM Avatar, a container ship from Indonesia sank in the Strait of Melaka after it was believed to have been hit by strong waves.

The vessel was carrying 15 crews and 13 of them were rescued by a merchant ship.

Another crew member, Hermawan, 35, who is the chef, was rescued during the search and rescue (SAR) operation on June 15, while the body of Captain Samuel Andianto Henuk, 52, was found on the same day.

-- BERNAMA

Vietnam’s illegal fisheries are old threat to malaysian fisherman

Malaysia’s economy losses $334 Million (1 Billion Malaysian ringgit) a year to illegal fishing activities by foreign fisherman within its territorial waters.

The fishery sector has for decades been playing an important role as a major supplier of animal protein to the Malaysian population. In 2007 the total fishery production of the country amounted to 1,563,942 tonnes. 

The greatest bulk of the fish landings has always come from the capture fisheries, constituting 88.3 percent of the total production for the year 2007.

There are 129,622 fishermen working on 49,756 licensed fishing vessels. Of these, 36,566 people are fishermen of foreigners, especially from Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. 

Fishery Trade

Export value of fishery products increased to RM 2,328 million compared to RM 2,112.5 million in 2009. The main export contributors were shrimp (51%), fresh / cold / frozen (23%) and fish stocks (15%). While import value has increased to RM2,219 million compared to RM 2,098 million in 2009. 

The production of marine fish from Malaysian waters was 1,482,899 t.m which gave a value of RM8.336 billion in 2013. In 2014 production decreased by 1.67% to 1,458,128 t.m, with a value of RM 8.785 Billion.

Threats

- The Invasion by foreign fishermen; Vietnamese, Thais and China fishermen. The occurrence of intrusion by foreign fishermen, whether registered or unregistered, will not only affect the income of local fishermen but also threaten their safety.

- Foreign sales of foreign fish & criminals who use government-provided facilities, such as oil subsidies and boats, 

- the  use of illegal trawlers; that result in the loss of fish sources and local fishing net damage

- The weaknesses of security patrols due to issue arising out of inadequate of fuel  provisions for the boats

- the patrols Boats were over 40 years old compared to Vietnam's powerful fishing boats

- The intervention among three enforcement agencies, the Coast guard, the Department of Fisheries and the Marine Police, is very grateful with each one blaming one another without settlement until now.

solution

1. Revoke the license or place certain conditions on the owner of the fishing boat C2 so as not to use the service of the Vietnamese fisherman anymore.

2. MMEA  to always improving patrolling and enforcement.

3. Eradicating the activities of foreign fishermen in the waters of the country

4. Using diplomatic channel to control the foreign fisherman activities

5.  patrolling for local fishermen's safety and security.

Unfortunately, the suggestion to use the "drone" - a small flying watchdog, was not accepted and ignored by the minister in Parliament during the recent debate on March 2017.

Lawless waters test Southeast Asian nations in fight against Islamic State

By Kanupriya Kapoor | SINGAPORE

Tue Jun 13, 2017 | 7:46 PM EDT

Reuters

Militants, pirates, drug traffickers, gun runners - the waters between Borneo and the southern Philippines have them all, but as an Islamic State faction burst on the scene in recent weeks, this corner of Southeast Asia plumbed new levels of insecurity.

The mostly Muslim countries of Indonesia and Malaysia, and those with sizeable Muslim minorities, like the Philippines, have been on high alert for fighters returning home from Islamic State frontlines in Syria and Iraq.

So when dozens of Malaysians, Indonesians, Arabs and Chechens showed up in Marawi City on Mindanao island, fighting alongside a Philippine franchise of Islamic State, a nightmare scenario suddenly took shape.

The danger of global jihadis establishing a base in the Philippines, running satellite cells to launch attacks across Southeast Asia, made governments in the region realize just how vulnerable they could be.

"It's easy to jump from Marawi to Indonesia and we must all beware of sleeper cells being activated in Indonesia," General Gatot Nurmantyo, Indonesia's military chief said on Monday.

According to the general, there are Islamic State sleeper cells in almost all of Indonesia's 34 provinces.

Indonesia has called for a conference with the Philippines and Malaysia to discuss events in Marawi - where the Philippine military, backed by U.S. special forces are still battling after more than three weeks to retake the town from fighters led by the IS-inspired Maute brothers.

So far, Islamic State-inspired attacks have been relatively small-scale in Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population. But they have become more frequent. Last month, suicide bombers killed three police officers at a Jakarta bus station.

Malaysia, meanwhile, has used draconian security laws to detain scores of suspected militants and Islamic State sympathizers.

AIR AND SEA

Next week, the three countries, with Singapore's assistance, will begin joint air surveillance over the Sulu Sea, using reconnaissance planes and drones, and enhance joint naval patrols.

Their navies planned joint patrols last year after a spate of kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf, a well established militant group that has declared support for Islamic State. But there are plenty of gaps to fill.

"We don't have communications via radio at this point. We conduct patrols in our own territory. We have not discussed exchanging personnel," said First Admiral Ferial Fachroni, commander of Indonesia's Tarakan naval base in North Kalimantan.

He told Reuters joint operations would begin this month. Situated on Borneo's northeast coast, Tarakan is the nearest Indonesian naval base to kidnappers' hunting grounds in the Celebes and Sulu Seas.

Keeping tabs on hundreds of merchant ships, fishing boats and ferries plying routes between the islands, deciding when and who to stop and search will be a tall order even for three navies working together.

The archipelagos' heavily forested coves and inlets provide excellent cover for any fast vessel looking to escape closer scrutiny.

"The Sulu Sea area has always had sporadic incidents like kidnappings of tourists before, but starting last year and this year, it has really gone up," Noel Chung, the Kuala Lumpur-based Asia head of the International Maritime Bureau, said.

"They started off with tugboats and went on to merchant ships, so they're targeting big ships out at sea. It's different from years ago when the attacks were more localized."

Chung saw comparisons with the Gulf of Aden, where Somali pirates operate, but the difference is that the Sulu Sea is not a major trading route so the international community is disinclined to invest in providing security.

Experts say the number of vessels needed to police the seas and costs incurred would be prohibitive.

"WEAK LINK"

Despite the long history of militancy and banditry in the area, it has taken the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia a long time to pool resources.

Largely dormant territorial disputes, mutual mistrust, and limited capabilities have all played a part retarding closer cooperation.

But seeing the black flags of Islamic State raised in Mindanao could have shocked the region's governments into moving from cooperation to actual collaboration.

"There are still some lingering trust issues but now there is also an understanding of the consequences if they don't develop this collaboration," said Singapore-based security analyst Rohan Gunaratna.

Beyond enhancing air and sea patrols, the countries' security agencies need to coordinate better and act faster on shared intelligence.

A Malaysian government official said that while information was shared on militant suspects, there was some frustration over a perceived lack of follow up in the Philippines.

"One of the challenges is tracking militants once they're in the southern Philippines. Only the Philippine army can confront them on land," the Malaysian official said, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Philippine officials said security agencies are "doing everything" to address the surge in militancy in Muslim-majority areas of the mostly Catholic country.

    "This is a holistic effort, not only in the military but in the government," armed forces chief General Eduardo Ano told reporters last week.

Describing the Philippines as a "weak link", regional terrorism expert Sidney Jones criticized a lack of cooperation between its police, military and intelligence agency.

"More so than other Southeast Asian countries, the security agencies are completely silo-ized," Jones said.

"The fact that the Philippines has been dealing with insurgencies for so long meant that it's somewhat blinded to this new phenomenon of pro-IS groups," she added.

PIRACY AND CARGO THEFT IN SOUTH EAST ASIA

While many would naturally associate the threat of piracy with the Gulf of Guinea and the Indian Ocean High Risk areas, it is actually South East Asia that sees the highest number of incidents.

The ICC International Maritime Bureau recorded 246 actual and attempted incidents of piracy and armed robbery on ships in 2015. Of those, 147 occurred in South East Asia, representing a 59.75% global share.

This is significant for an area that predominantly sits outside the Joint War Committee’s Listed High Risk Area, and represents a small increase on 2014. Although the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy (ReCAAP) records a 65% year-on-year decrease in the number of incidents for January to September 2016, the region remains an area of concern for piracy and armed robbery.

Of particular concern is the threat of armed robbery in conjunction with piracy. The hijacking of a vessel and kidnapping of the crew is often a pre-cursor to its cargo theft: a trend is characterised by recent incidents.

Case Study 1

In June 2016, the tug Ever Prosper and barge Ever Dignity were attacked near Sarawak, Malaysia. The attackers took all ten crew members hostage and tied them up, before stealing the crew’s valuables and the vessel’s cargo. All crew were reported safe with only one reporting an injury.

Case Study 2

On May 15 2015, a local product tanker was attacked by armed pirates while the vessel was passing near Sarawak, Malaysia. The pirates held the entire crew hostage, damaged the vessel’s communications equipment and hijacked the vessel, then proceeded to transfer the fuel oil cargo to another ship and steal the crew’s personal belongings. The crew were found safe.

What is noticeable about these case studies is the different modus operandi used in South East Asia compared to the rest of the world. The spate of hijacks/ kidnaps off East Africa between 2008 and 2012 were often characterised by lengthy kidnap periods and significant ransom payments, but not necessarily by cargo theft. In the Gulf of Guinea, cargo theft is a common issue, but is generally a secondary crime following the kidnap of crew, as evidenced by the spate of incidents in the Gulf of Guinea thus far in 2016.

In South East Asia, however, recent incidents are notable for the lack of kidnapped crew. The incident in May 2015 near Sarawak involved a clear intention to steal the fuel oil cargo, but no serious effort to kidnap and then ransom off the crew: a pattern which has been seen in other similar events over the last 18 months. It is therefore important for owners and charterers to have a robust and appropriate piracy kidnap and ransom (K&R) cover that covers all areas of the world in which they operate, even areas which sit outside the JWLA 022 High Risk area. A standard piracy policy excludes cargo theft, and must be built into cover separately.

Although not a standard covered peril, cargo theft can be built into cover and the piracy markets are responding to this specific issue. Lloyd’s syndicate has released a ‘South East Asia’ Threat product, which includes up to USD 1 million of fuel oil theft and up to USD 10 million for general cargo theft. In addition, the policies cover up to USD 100,000 of vessel damage cover, in order to protect the no claims bonus on marine policies.

Piracy incidents can also often be violent affairs, with 25 per cent of attacks resulting in threats and injuries to crew, and K&R piracy policies include personal accident cover of USD 250,000 per crew member, with a typical event aggregate of USD 1.25 million.

Given the specificity and range of associated risks in South East Asia, charterers and owners should try to ensure appropriate piracy and cargo coverage is in place to cover their crew and their assets
Given the specificity and range of associated risks in South East Asia, charterers and owners should try to ensure appropriate piracy and cargo coverage is in place to cover their crew and their assets.

JLT 31 March 2017

The State of Maritime Piracy 2016

Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) has launched this year’s report “The State of Maritime Piracy 2016” which marks the seventh year that OBP has assessed the human and economic cost of maritime piracy. This year, OBP focused on three particular areas: West Africa, East Africa and Asia and for the first time on Latin America and the Caribbean

Report Highlights

• Decreased vigilance and deterrence in high risk areas is providing pirate networks with the opportunity to attack vulnerable vessels, especially off the Horn of Africa.
• Kidnap for ransom attacks in the Sulu and Celebes Seas in South East Asia have significantly increased in 2016.
• West Africa, and particularly the waters off Nigeria, continues to be an area of concern as the number of piracy attacks almost doubled from 2015.
• The first ever analysis of the human cost of piracy and armed robbery in Latin America is included in this year’s study.

Piracy and armed robbery at sea in West Africa markedly increased in 2016. Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) recorded 95 incidents overall, compared with 54 in 2015. That also led to a significant increase in the human cost, with 1,921 seafarers being affected compared with 1,225 in 2015.

OBP notes that piracy and armed robbery around the Horn of Africa have decreased considerably. For 2016,  129 incidents of piracy and robbery have been reported in Asia. For the purposes of this report, OBP defines the Asia region as spanning the area from the eastern coast of India to the Banda Sea in Indonesia.

West Africa 

The shipping industry had to address very different challenges in West Africa in 2016. With the exception of Nigeria, the number of attacks against merchant vessels remained relatively constant compared with previous years. Moreover, many of these attacks were non-violent robberies, which may have a psychological impact on seafarers, yet the occurrence of physical violence was very limited.

Pirate Activity

• The number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea that OBP recorded in West Africa increased from 54 in 2015 to 95 in 2016.
• As in 2015, there was only one incident of hijacking for cargo theft which reflects a shift towards the kidnap for ransom model which requires less organization and is less risky for pirates.
• Violent attacks were more concentrated in Nigerian waters than in previous years, highlighting that piracy and armed robbery at sea in West Africa is strongly influenced by the domestic security situation in Nigeria.

East Africa

For most of 2016, monthly incidents averaged between zero and four. No successful hijackings were recorded by OBP in 2016; the last known hijacking incident before 2016 was the attack on Muhammadi in November 2015.

Pirate groups continue to test the defensive capabilities of ships transiting the region, as evidenced by the 11 reported incidents deterred by armed security teams. While deterrence by armed teams can normally be accomplished by a show of force rather than actual engagement, in two of these cases, the attackers fired on the vessel before eventually aborting.

The 2016 incidents demonstrate that pirate groups still possess both capability and desire to carry out acts of piracy, as evidenced by the March 2017 hijacking of MT ARIS 13. The political and economic conditions onshore which allowed and encouraged piracy off the coast of Somalia to flourish less than a decade ago have seen negligible improvements.

Pirate Activity

• In 2016, no hijackings were recorded, but several suspicious incidents indicate that the capability and intent of pirate groups remain. The opportunity to commit acts of piracy continues to increase as vigilance by the shipping community decreases. This trend has been underlined by recent events and attacks in early 2017.
• Pirate gangs and kingpins have been involved in a diverse array of illicit maritime activities that have helped to fund piracy activities in 2017.
• The socio-political environment in Somalia(including lack of economic opportunity, lack of governance and lack of law enforcement capability) that initially allowed piracy to flourish remains largely unchanged, particularly in the traditional pirate safe havens.

Asia

 

Pirate Activity

• 2016 saw a substantial increase in the number of kidnappings that occurred in the Sulu and Celebes Seas, prompting the establishment of coordinated maritime patrols by littoral states.
• The number of overall incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea recorded by OBP in 2016 decreased by 35% compared to 2015, highlighting the importance effectiveness of regional cooperation and information sharing mechanisms.
• The number of hijackings for cargo theft incidents recorded by OBP decreased from 12 in 2015 to just three in 2015.

Latin America & the Caribbean

In response to a number of documented violent incidents, Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) has expanded its State of Piracy analysis to include incidents of piracy and armed robbery in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean in 2016.

Recent attacks on passenger vessels traversing inland waterways have affected crews and passengers alike, and the number of attacks on yachts at anchorage and in open water is concerning. This region presents a unique set of challenges because of the frequency of attacks on yachts rather than the mostly merchant vessels observed in other regions.

As 2016 is the first year OBP has included the region in its global analysis, it is too early to discern trends from year to year or determine particular vessel vulnerabilities. However, the level of violent criminal activity observed in 2016 certainly warrants more attention from the international community