Two almost brand new Nordic MR tankers were among the thirteen ships that came under attack in Asia last month. The two ships were attacked by armed robbers within 24 hours. This is according to ReCAAPs piracy report for October. No crew members were harmed.
Just after at 07:00 local time on October 5, the 50,000 DWT North Supreme was boarded by three robbers, while the ship was anchored at Belawan in Indonesia. The robbers, who were allegedly armed with long knives, threatened the crew as they approached them on the ship.
The captain managed to alert the crew and raised the alarm. The assailants fled empty-handed.
The ship’s crew escaped unharmed. They had previously been warned by a passing ship that five terrorists had tried to board the ship by climbing up the anchor chain.
Less than 24 hours later the 50,000 DWT North Swift was boarded around 6:30 local time when the ship was anchored off Sandakan in Malaysia. Unconfirmed reports say that the perpetrators were able to steal an unspecified amount of ship supplies before they escaped. It is not known if the thieves were armed.
The information about the events is shown in the latest monthly report from the Singapore-based Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre.
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