News

The "Glovis Maple", being moored in position 20 55 12 N, 107 17 41 E, at the Cam Pha anchorage was boarded by an unknown number of perpetrators armed with knives on Dec 9, 2018, at 11.10 p.m.from a wooden boat through the anchor chain hawse pipe by removing the cover. They broke the forecastle entrance padlock including the Niger lock, removed the additional securing lashing, stole ship's property and escaped. No crew members were injured during the incident.

A skipper and three fishermen have gone missing in Pegasus Reef waters near Kinabatangan here the same area where a group of armed attackers invaded the "Magtrans II" on Dec 5. The men’s disappearance was discovered during an investigation of the attack on the tug. Security forces conducting an inspection of the area found the deserted fishing boat in the vicinity, with its engine still running. Later that day, they received a report from the owner of the fishing boat that his crew was missing. It was not sure whether they were kidnapped by the same armed group which tried to storm the tug. Two of the missing fishermen are Malaysian, while two were foreigners, aged between 20 and 40. There has been no call from any group claiming responsibility for the disappearance. In the 6.30 p.m. incident on Nov 5, four men in a speedboat fired shots at the "Magtrans II" and stormed the vessel with 13 crew members onboard. Amidst the melee, a crew member fired 10 shots of a flare gun, prompting the attackers to jump into the sea and flee the scene. The tug was travelling from Bintulu, Sarawak to Papua New Guinea to fetch timber. The injured skipper was recuperating at the Lahad Datu Hospital.

The duty crew on board the "British Seafarer" noticed two potential robbers boarding the vessel using a rope, at the Apapa-Lagos anchorage in position 06 21 40 N, 03 19 29 E, on Nov 21, 2018, at 9.15 p.m. The alarm was raised, and non-essential crew retreated into the citadel. Hearing the alerted crew, the robbers fled the vessel and escaped empty handed.

The "Klara" was boarded by two robbers, while anchored, at the Puerto la Cruz anchorage, Venezuela, on Dec 1, 2018, at 06.30 a.m. The robbers attempted to open the forward store. The duty watch-keeper spotted the robbers and raised the alarm. Hearing the alerted crew, the robbers fled the vessel and escaped without stealing anything. The incident was reported to the local authorities.

The "Eco Lucidity" was boarded by three robbers armed with guns and knives at the Merak anchorage, Indonesia, in position 005 52 06.0 S, 106 04 52.8 E, on Dec 3, 2018, at 7 p.m. The robbers took hostage two crew members and tied them up. They then entered the engine room, stole engine spare parts, fled the vessel and escaped.