Piracy in Straits of Malacca and Singapore Drops After Arrests

January 18 ------ The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) issued its 2025 annual report on piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia highlighting that 132 incidents of piracy and armed robbery were reported to in 2025 - a 23% increase over the 107 incidents reported in 2024.

One hundred and eight of these were located in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), a 74% increase over 2024 numbers. This is the highest number of incidents recorded in the SOMS during the 19-year period from 2007 to 2025. The incidents were mostly opportunistic theft committed during hours of darkness between 8pm and 6am. In the majority of incidents, the crew was not injured.

Approximately 87% of the incidents in the SOMS in 2025 occurred in the first seven months of the year (January to July). There was a significant decline in the number of incidents in the SOMS from August to December 2025, following the arrests of perpetrators by the Indonesian authorities in July and August 2025. In about half the incidents reported in the SOMS, nothing was stolen. The remaining incidents reported stolen items such as engine spares, scrap metal, unsecured items, ship stores, and personal belongings of crew.

Over half of the incidents in the SOMS occurred onboard bulk carriers (52%), with the remaining incidents occurring onboard tankers (23%), container ships (10%), tug boats towing barges (12%) and general cargo ships (3%).

“The sharp increase in number of incidents in the SOMS in 2025 does not indicate a corresponding increase in threat to maritime trade passing through the SOMS. The higher number of incidents largely corresponds to minor petty theft cases. In fact, there were no severe CAT 1 incidents in the SOMS in 2025,” said ReCAAP ISC Executive Director, Vijay D Chafekar. “While the increase in sea robbery incidents in the SOMS highlights the continuing security challenges faced by ships transiting the busy waterway, the decline in incidents following the arrest of perpetrators by the Riau Islands Regional Police illustrates the deterrent effect of effective enforcement. To help reduce the number of incidents, the ReCAAP ISC would like to urge shipping companies to report all incidents of theft and unauthorised boarding to the nearest costal state authority. Where possible, shipping industry should provide CCTV footage of perpetrators as evidence when making incident reports, so as to assist law enforcement agencies to swiftly arrest and prosecute the suspects,” he added.

Fewer incidents were reported in ports and anchorages in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Philippines in 2025 compared to 2024. There was a marginal increase in the number of incidents in India’s anchorages. The incidents in Asia in 2025 were of lower severity compared to 2024. Of the 127 actual incidents in 2025, 53% were classified as CAT 4 (lowest severity), where the perpetrators were not reported to have carried any weapon and the crew were not injured. In comparison, 44% of the actual incidents in 2024 were CAT 4. There were no CAT 1 incidents (highest severity) reported in 2025, compared to two CAT 1 incidents in 2024.

For the fifth consecutive year, there were no reports of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah. The last incident occurred on January 17, 2020. In January 2025, the Philippine Coast Guard downgraded the threat level of “Abduction of crew for ransom in the SuluCelebes Seas’ from Moderate Low to Low meaning no information or monitored activities suggest an impending attack; hence incidents are not expected to occur.”

Source: marinelink.com

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