piracy reportpiracyreport.co.za/piracy report feb 2016.pdfnns okpabana, nns centenary and nns...

Copyright © 2015 L. Joubert 1

PIRACY REPORT FEBRUARY 2016

_____________________________________________________

Piracy and Acts of Armed Robbery of Ships

For Monthly Reports

Please contact

Lydelle Joubert

[email protected]

Piracy Report Independent Global

Incident Analysis

2

Analysis

The 2016 heatmap indicates that West Africa and

Kandla Anchorages in India are the areas most

affected by piracy and acts of armed robbery of

vessels in the first two months of 2016. While

incidents are more serious in West Africa, incidents

in India could be described as petty theft.

Two tanker hijackings were reported in West Africa

in January and February 2016. During both

incidents crew were kidnapped. The five crew

members of the Leon Dias kidnapped in January

2016 have since been released. Two crew

members of the hijacked tanker Maximus are still

unaccounted for. Two local speedboats with 12

passengers onboard were also hijacked in Bayelsa,

Nigeria in January 2016. The passengers have

been released in January.

Two incidents of kidnappings off a fishing trawler

and a tug were reported in West Africa this year.

The captain and first engineer of the trawler were

kidnapped. Two crew members, a Russian and a

Nigerian were kidnapped from the Tug, Bourbon

Liberty 251 off Brass, Nigeria in February 2016. No

information on the status of the victims in the two

kidnappings are currently available. More

kidnappings in West Africa are likely in the

foreseeable future.

At Kandla Anchorage, India, ships stores and

equipment are stolen in the hours of darkness by

groups of robbers arriving in small boats. Seven

incidents were reported at the Kandla Anchorages

in 2016.

Incidents remain the same or are lower in all

regions in February 2016, compared to January

2016. Incidents in Southeast Asia are considerable

lower in 2016 compared to the preceding two years

as several arrests of maritime criminals were made

in this region in the last few months. Further arrests

of suspects of the MT Joaquim hijacking were

made by Indonesian authorities in February 2016

after a three month long intelligence operation.

Incidents in India are higher than the corresponding

months in 2015 mainly due to petty theft at Kandla

anchorages.

2016

Incidents

2015

Incidents

February 2016

Incidents

Copyright © 2015 L. Joubert

3 Copyright © 2015 L. Joubert

Incidents of Piracy and Robbery of Vessels: 2014 to 2016

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

SE Asia

2014

2015

2016

Linear (2014)

Linear (2015)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16


West Africa

2014

2015

2016

Linear (2014)

Linear (2015)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9


Indian Sub-Continent

2014

2015

2016

Linear (2014)

Linear (2015)


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

FEB2015

MAR2015

APR2015

MAY2015

JUN2015

JUL2015

AUG2015

SEP2015

OCT2015

NOV2015

DEC2015

JAN2016

FEB2016

Incidents by Region February 2015 to February 2016

Incidents 2016: Type of Ship Attacked

5

Type Vessel Code

Barge

Bulk Carrier

Cargo ship

Coast Guard/

Patrol Boat

Container

Dhow

Ferry

Fishing Boat

Fishing Trawler

Offshore Supply

Vessel

Passenger Boat

Roll-on-Roll-off

Cargo Ship

Tanker

Tug

Yacht

B

BC

CS

PB

C

D

F

FB

FV

OSV

PMB

Ro-Ro

MT

TB

SY

4

17 2 12

6


B BC CS PB C D F FB FV OSV PMBRo-

RoMT TB SY

Americas 1 1 1 1

Indian Sub Continent 2 1 1 1 6 1

SE Asia 2 1 1 1 1

West Africa 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 1

East Africa/Arabian Gulf 2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

6

Southeast Asia


Incidents in Southeast Asia are in a downward trend since November 2015, with only two incidents

reported in February 2016. Both these incidents occurred in the Philippines. One was a robbery in

Batangas Anchorage. The other a hijacking and kidnapping of a fishing vessel in the Basilan Strait.

14 February 2016 – The fishing vessel, Kyle Kian was hijacked between Zamboanga City and Basilan.

The fishing boat Captain, Ronnie Bancala and two crew members, Romeo Rubio and Winnie Pandiag

were onboard at the time. On 15 February 2016 at 09:00LT the two crew members, Romeo Rubio and

Winnie Pandiag arrived at the Philippine Coast Guard station in Jolo Port. At first they claimed that their

fishing vessel capsized off Siasi, Sulu in heavy weather and that they were rescued by fishermen. Later

they recanted saying that six gunmen came onboard and took them to Sulu. The gunmen pretended to

be fishermen claiming they had engine problems. Hours later the gunmen released the crew but kept

Bancala.1 The kidnappers phoned Bancala’s wife demanding a P 50 000 (US$ 970) ransom. The

ransom was later increased to P1 million (US$ 19 000), Bancala’s wife contacted the police in Pitogo,

Zamboanga de Sur.2 It is not clear if this is in fact a piracy incident or if another motive is behind the

event. Claims that Abu Sayyaf is responsible are unsubstantiated at this point, yet not impossible.

14/02/2016. Kyle Kian.

Fishing Vessel. Hijacked

and crew kidnapped.


Indian Sub-Continent

Five incidents were recorded in India and one in Bangladesh in February 2016. All incidents in India could

be classified as petty theft and attempted theft. Two attempted robberies took place at Kandla Anchorage,

India.

19 February 2016 – A fisherman was killed and four others wounded during an attack in the Kachikhali

area, Bangladesh. One fisherman was kidnapped and fish, fishing nets, cash, phones and other

valuables were stolen.4

19/02/2016. Fishing Vessel.

Robbery and kidnapping.

Update MT Joaquim Hijacking

In February 2016 the Western Fleet Quick Response Team (WFQR) arrested additional suspects connected

to the MT Joaquim hijacking after a three month long intelligence operation.3 The tanker was hijacked on 8

August 2015.


West Africa

Five incidents were reported in West Africa in February 2016. A robbery took place at Boma anchorage,

Congo River, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A hijacking was reported off the Ivory Coast Three

attacks were reported in and off Nigeria with one resulting in the kidnapping of two crewmembers.

.

5 February 2016 – The container ship, Safmarine Kuramo was boarded at 08:00LT as the vessel

entered territorial waters off Bonny Island, Nigeria. The Maersk operated vessel was transporting cargo

from Ponte-Noiire, Congo to Onne Sea Port, Rivers, Nigeria. Attackers fired at the control room. The

captain made a distress call and the crew locked themselves In the citadel. The attackers tried to break

into the citadel. Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Centenary and gunboats reacted to the distress call. On

sighting of the warships the attackers fled the scene.5

11 February 2016 – The tanker MT Maximus was hijacked off the coast of Ivory Coast. (See detailed

report)

23 February 2016 – The Tug, Bourbon Liberty 251 was attacked 55 M off Brass, Nigeria. Two crew

members, a Russian and a Nigerian were kidnapped.6

5/02/2016. Safmarine

Kuramo. Container. Fired

on and boarded.

11/02/2016. MT Maximus.

Tanker. Hijacked.

23/02/2016. Bourbon

Liberty 251. Tug. Two

kidnapped.


MT Maximus Hijacking

On 11 February 2016 MT Maximus was hijacked off Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Somewhere along the way it

was renamed MT Elvis-5.7 The vessel was followed by the respective West African navies for more than

800M past the coastal waters of five countries before the vessel was seized by the Nigerian Navy on 21

February 2016.

Earlier in February while the USNS Spearhead, a US Navy Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) was

participating in a training exercise with Ghanaian maritime agencies, word came from the French Embassy

that a supposed pirate vessel was loitering off Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

On 11 February 2016 pirates hijacked the tanker, MT Maximus carrying 4 700 tons of diesel fuel. The

USNS Spearhead tracked the Maximus for two days until it entered Ghanaian waters. The Ghana Navy

tracked the vessel to Togo from where the Togo Navy followed the vessel to Sao Tome and Principe. The

Sao Tome Government contacted the Nigerian government for assistance 8 The Nigerian Navy deployed

NNS Okpabana, NNS Centenary and NNS Sagbama to assist in a rescue operation.

The pirates refused to surrender and fired at the Nigerian vessels.9 After an eight hour standoff between

the Nigerian Navy and the pirates, the Navy decided to board the vessel.10 One pirate was killed during the

assault and six were captured. 18 crew members were freed but two pirates escaped with two hostages

presumably the previous night. The hostages remain in captivity.

The Crew

The 18 man crew were locked in the citadel for eight days. They were assaulted by the pirates. Two crew

members, an Indian and a Pakistani are still in captivity.

The Pirates

The pirates fired on the MT Maximus and took control of the vessel. They damaged the radar system.

They were professional sailors as they took control of and sailed the vessel themselves.

The pirates arrested were of Ghanaian and Nigerian nationalities. They are Mike Ogboroma (Capt), Ayo

Joshua, Marcus Adesoji, Adeyemi Paul, Oluwafemi Samuel and Collins Friday. During the arrest 11

phones including a satellite phone, nine SIM cards, different currencies including Ghana cedis, dollars,

pounds, naira and euro, two AK47 guns and a double barrel gun, as well as ammunition were confiscated

.

The Pirate Vessels

A mother vessel was used to attack the MT Maximus and a tanker was to be used to fuel transfer vessel.

The transfer vessel, a tanker MT Dejikun was allegedly hijacked at Lagos Port to be used for the purpose.

It is indicated that the pirates crewed the Dejikun themselves.11


3 February 2016 – A Kuwaiti fishing boat manned by an Egyptian crew was attacked by two boats with

eight men onboard near Kubbar Island, Kuwait. Three crew members were injured during the attack.

The crew managed to resist the attack and captured an Iranian attacker who was handed to the Sharq

police station in Kuwait City.13

East Africa and Arabian Gulf

3/02/2016. Fishing Boat.

Fishermen attacked.

One pirate captured.

Leon Dias Update

All five hostages from the tanker Leon Dias have been released on 25 February 2016.12 The tanker, Leon

Dias was hijacked 90 nm South of Edumanom National Park, Nigeria on 29 January 2016. The hijackers

disembarked on 31 January 2016 taking five hostages with them.


A robbery on a container ship ship at the Georgetown Anchorage, Guyana and an attempted robbery on a

tanker at Callao Anchorage, Peru were reported in February 2016.

Americas

12

End Notes

1. http://www.zamboangatimes.ph/top-news/17779-2-fishing-boat-crew-freed-operator-kept-by-captors.html

viewed 22/02/2016

2. http://www.interaksyon.com/article/124136/fishing-boat-owner-crew-kidnapped-in-basilan-abu-sayyaf-

eyed viewed 25/02/2016

3. http://serantaunews.com/berita-pelaku-perompak-kapal-tanker-mt-joaquim-berhasil-ditangkap-tni-al-

tanjungpinang.html&prev=search viewed 25/02/2016.

4. http://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/piracy/20160224_WTS.pdf?ver=2016-02-25-161930-527

viewed 26/02/2016.

5. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/navy-foils-hijack-of-merchant-ship-recues-25-foreigners/ viewed

8/02/2016.

6. http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a37988169bf81c6c10b51c53b&id=eb63413840 viewed 25/02/2016.

7. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/10-sailors-rescued-from-pirates-in-ivory-coast/

viewed 22/02/2016.

8. http://www.metronews.ca/news/world/2016/02/26/us-nigerian-navies-ship-rescue-success-for-co-

operation.html viewed 25/02/2016.

9. http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/03/02/breaking-the-piracy-syndicate-2/ viewed 2/03/206.

10. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-nigerian-navies-ship-rescue-success-cooperation-

37221502

11. This Day Live, op cit.

12. http://tass.ru/en/world/858888

13. http://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/fishermen-attacked-by-pirates/ viewed 10/02/2016;

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/fisherman-loses-finger-in-hacking-attack-1.1665962 viewed

10/02/2016


http://www.interaksyon.com/article/124136/fishing-boat-owner-crew-kidnapped-in-basilan-abu-sayyaf-eyed viewed 25/02/2016





















http://serantaunews.com/berita-pelaku-perompak-kapal-tanker-mt-joaquim-berhasil-ditangkap-tni-al-tanjungpinang.html&prev=search
























http://www.metronews.ca/news/world/2016/02/26/us-nigerian-navies-ship-rescue-success-for-co-operation.html viewed 25/02/2016



















http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/03/02/breaking-the-piracy-syndicate-2/










http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-nigerian-navies-ship-rescue-success-cooperation-37221502















piracy reportpiracyreport.co.za/piracy report feb 2016.pdfnns okpabana, nns centenary and nns...

Documents