Shipmaster injured in robbery off Singapore 

Asia records 57 piracy incidents in eight months 

 

The master of a bulk carrier was injured during a sea robbery while the ship was sailing towards Singapore.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre stated that the incident took place around 4.50 pm (UK time) on 22 October, but was not reported until 27 October.

According to the report, “four or five men armed with a gun and knives” boarded the ship, took the third engineer hostage and tied him up. The duty oiler reportedly noticed the suspects and raised the alarm, resulting in the robbers escaping with stolen spare parts from the ship.

IMB did not release the name of the ship, number of crewmen on board and other details.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Sunday that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was informed about the robbery attempt at 4:30 a.m. local time on 27 October.

The authority added that the robbery attempt occurred in the Straits of Malacca in the early hours of 27 October when the Marshall Islands-flagged ship was still outside Singapore waters.

“The shipmaster who was hurt in the incident is reported to be in stable condition and has been conveyed ashore to seek medical treatment,” the authority said.



Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.