A leading maritime operations company with a specialist high-grade intelligence capability has warned of the increasing threat of piracy in Southeast Asian waters.
Dryad Maritime made the statement following the company’s second quarter (Q2) figures showing the Southeast Asian region continuing to experience the highest number of maritime crime incidents in the world.
Dryad’s report states that there were 12 reported cases of vessels being boarded this year alone, and another 19 reports of robberies, attempted robberies or suspicious approaches at sea, particularly in the anchorages to the east of th Singapore Strait.
On July 4, the MT Moresby 9 tanker was hijacked off the Anambas Islands, with pirates taking the crew hostage and stealing part of the ships 2,200-tonne cargo of Marine Gas Oil.
The Rakyat Post public policy think tank Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability (NISS) contends that the rise of piracy in Southeast Asia is due to several factors, including poor maritime regulation, organised crime syndicates, widespread poverty, and politically motivated groups.
