MSC Containership Attacked

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An MSC Containership and a bulk carrier have been involved in two separate, but possible linked piracy attacks over the weekend, with crew from the MSC Vancouver being subjected to attack from seven men wielding knives.

Piracy attacks have also occurred in Nigeria, with a recent incident involving the death of a Greek Deputy Captain as the ship was waiting to load at a Nigerian port.

In other parts of the world, the Suez Canal has set up a scheme that will see a new police department increasing shipping security along the canal in a bid to eliminate the threat of piracy.

The International Maritime Organisation is a key organisation for promoting the safety of ships at sea, and since its inception in the mid-twentieth century, it has gone on to create 50 treties and hundreds of codes that seek to improve the safety of international trade.

For further insight on how to detect and recognise shipping threats, click here

David Rider, Content Editor and Intelligence Consultant for CSO Alliance, said “pirates in Southeast Asia tend to target small coastal tankers carrying marine fuel oil cargoes. Recent attacks have seen groups of pirates armed with handguns and parangs (machetes) board small tankers, take the crews hostage and then rendezvous with other tankers to offload the cargo. They then destroy communication and navigation equipment before leaving the hijacked vessel. In one incident, pirates left a fake IED on board to slow down the authorities.

“Robberies are by far the most prevalent maritime crime in the region, occurring both at port and whilst ships are underway. These 'quick hit' attacks target any cash on the ship and the crew's personal belongings rather than the cargo. Sadly, they are extremely common place. Prior to these two reports, CSO Alliance had already logged 36 incidents of piracy and maritime crime in Southeast Asia in 2015 using reports received from all regional information sharing centres including ReCAAP and the IMB as well as our own members' crime reports.”

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