Map – Approximate location of the incident occurred on 25 December 2019
ReCAAP ISC Incident Alert on Incidents involving ships while underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait (Part V)
ReCAAP ISC today issued an Incident Alert on “Incidents involving ships while underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait (Part V).”
Summary
ReCAAP ISC had issued four Incident Alerts on incidents occurred to ships while underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait (IA 05/2019 on 23 October 2019[1], IA 06/2019 on 29 November 2019[2], IA 07/2019 on 21 December 2019[3] and IA 08/2019 on 23 December 2019[4]).
On 25 December 2019, another incident occurred to a tanker while underway in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait. Six unarmed perpetrators were sighted in the engine room of the ship. The alarm was raised and the perpetrators escaped empty-handed in a small boat. There was no confrontation between the perpetrators and the crew. With this incident, a total of 30 incidents have been reported in the Singapore Strait in 2019. Of these, 15 occurred to ships while underway in the westbound lane of the Singapore Strait and 15 incidents in the eastbound lane of the Strait.
The ReCAAP ISC is seriously concerned with the increase of incidents in the Singapore Strait. Since the perpetrators of these incidents are not arrested, there is a possibility of further incidents in the Singapore Strait. All ships are strongly advised to exercise utmost vigilance, adopt extra precautionary measures and report all incidents immediately to the nearest coastal State. The ReCAAP ISC recommends to the law enforcement agencies of the littoral States to further step up surveillance, increase patrols and enhance cooperation and coordination among them in order to respond promptly to incidents.
Detail of Incident
On 25 December 2019, the ReCAAP Focal Point (Singapore) reported to ReCAAP ISC an incident occurred to a tanker while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait (western sector). Refer to the map in the following page on the approximate location of the incident.
The detail of the incident is described as follows:
On 25 Dec 19 at about 0028 hrs, tanker, Stena Immortal was underway in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait and bound for the port of Singapore when six unarmed perpetrators were sighted in the engine room. The chief engineer sighted the perpetrators and alerted the master. The ship’s alarm system was activated and the six perpetrators escaped empty-handed at the stern of the ship in an unidentified small boat. There was no confrontation between the perpetrators and the crew. The master reported the incident to Singapore Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) who initiated a safety navigational broadcast. The Singapore Police Coast Guard boarded the ship upon her arrival at the port of Singapore. The Indonesian authority, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and Singapore Police Coast Guard were notified.
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[1] Incident Alert 05/2019 reported on three incidents occurred in September and in October at locations of close proximity to each other in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the western sector of the Singapore Strait.
[2] Incident Alert 06/2019 reported on four incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait in October and in November, in particular with three actual incidents that occurred within a five-day period (23-27 November 2019).
[3] Incident Alert 07/2019 reported three incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait on 20 December 2019.
[4] Incident Alert 08/2019 reported two incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait on 23 December 2019.
