A Korean-flagged heavy lift ship berthed at Tawitawi Island in the Philippines was boarded by 10 gunmen and captured on October 20, 2016, Fleetmon reported.
The Dongbang Giant No. 2 was docked in the Philippines from Australia on its way to Masan Korea when it was taken over by Militants; allegedly members of the ISIS affiliated Abu Sayyaf Group, who kidnapped one Filipino crew member and the ships’ Master.
The latest reports in the afternoon of October 20, 2016 stated that the ship was floating off shore south of Bongao, where Navy and anti-terror forces were informed of the incident.
Earlier in April, 2016 PTI reported that Commercial ships were being warned to avoid shipping routes around Indonesia and Philippines amid fears that piracy could be reaching Somalian levels.
A Malaysian oil tanker was hijacked after leaving the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in the nearby Strait of Malacca in August, 2016, where armed men also took crew members hostage.
