Another anchored bulk carrier was boarded by robbers on July 24, as three culprits climbed aboard the ship which was in the Indonesian Samarinda Anchorage at the time of the incident, according to data provided by the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC).
Duty crew on routine rounds noticed the robbers, which approached the vessel in a small wooden motorboat, and raised the alarm.
“Seeing the crew alertness, the robbers escaped with stolen ship’s stores,” IMB PRC said, adding that a search was carried out throughout the ship.
Earlier in July, a number of robbers boarded an Indian-registered bulk carrier, Vishva Nidhi, while it was anchored in the Indonesian Taboneo Anchorage.
The theft was discovered by the duty crew while performing routine rounds.
The latest boarding comes on the back of a report released by IMB, which notes that piracy and armed robbery at sea have fallen to their lowest levels since 1995, despite a surge in kidnappings off West Africa.
A total of 98 incidents occurred in the first half of 2016, compared with 134 for the same period in 2015. Out of the 98 incidents, 72 were related to vessel boarding.
IMB said that, due to designated anchorages with improved security; there was an improvement in Indonesia as incidents of low-level theft to ships at anchor were decreased to 24 in the first six months of 2016, compared with 54 in the same period in 2015.
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