Sea Pirates: A "Small Tanker" Concern from the International Maritime Bureau

IMB notes concern over small tanker attacks in SE Asia :

While pirate attacks on the world’s seas have fallen for the third consecutive year, small tanker hijacks by armed gangs are escalating in Southeast Asia, reveals the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its latest piracy report.
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“It’s encouraging to see the huge decrease in maritime piracy and armed robbery over the last few years, thanks mainly to international navies deterring pirates off East Africa, and improved onboard security,” said IMB Director, Pottengal Mukundan. “However, there has been a worrying new rise in attacks against small coastal tankers in Southeast Asia. We advise small tankers in particular to remain vigilant in these waters and report all attacks and suspicious small craft to the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre.”

IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre says gangs of thieves armed with knives and guns are making Southeast Asian waters increasingly dangerous for small tankers carrying products such as gasoil or marine diesel oil. Boarding the ship at sea, pirates hold the crew hostage for a short time while they unload all or part of the cargo, which they then use, or sell locally. Of the six vessels hijacked worldwide in the third quarter of 2014, five were in Southeast Asia.

It's not just Southeast Asia, as noted further on:

The number of incidents reported in Nigeria has dropped noticeably, down to 13 in the first nine months of 2014, from 29 in the same period last year. Elsewhere in the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana recorded four incidents in 2014 compared with no incidents in 2013. This includes the hijacking of two product tankers – and theft of their cargoes – and a fishing vessel and the taking hostage of 86 crew members.

Why small tankers? Because of their small crews, lack of security, ease of boarding, ease of transfer of product to another vessel, and high value cargo. It also helps if there is little or no sea law enforcement force out there.

Nigeria and Malaysia: Pirates Lose Two Far Apart Rounds

A couple of reports of the criminal crowd taking losses - one from Nigeria and one from Malaysia.

First, Nigeria: Army, Navy arrest sea pirates:

A combined team of Nigerian Army in Okitipupa and men of Naval base in Igbokoda in Ondo state yesterday jointly arrested about 16 sea pirate who have been tormenting the waterways with illegal bunkering activities.

The arrest followed a tip off from a private security outfit on waterways, GlobalWest Fleet who had earlier apprehended one of the pirates in Lagos who dealt in illegal activities on the high seas.
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The said suspects were said to be involved in hijacking of crude oil ship on high seas and selling off the contents.

And, now, Malaysia: MMEA Foil Pirates' Sale of Syphoned Bunkers"":

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Friday prevented an attempt by six pirates from syphoning off and selling bunker fuel from a hijacked vessel in the waters off Tanjung Piai in Pontian, Malaysia, the New Straits Times reports.
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MMEA southern region enforcement chief First Admiral Adon Shalan said they spotted unusual ship-to-ship activity between MT Scorpio and MT Sea Jade at 2.15pm and as a nearby MMEA patrol boat approached the two vessels, six masked men were seen fleeing in a wooden boat installed with a high-powered engine, which was next to MT Scorpio.

Investigations onboard MT Scorpio indicated that the vessel had been hijacked, and all 12 crew members, which consisted of 10 Indonesians, a Chinese national, and a Sri Lankan, had their hands tied.
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Additional investigation showed fuel-siphoning activity and indicated that the pirates, having tied up the crew, impersonated crew members of MT Scorpio and offered to sell fuel to MT Sea Jade at a below-market price.
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The six pirates were believed to be members of a syndicate with a wide network in monitoring vessel movement along the Straits of Malacca, especially off the west coast of Johor, the report said.

Small wins in a big fight.