Sea Piracy of Various Forms and the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 12 July - 10 August 2016

Classic piracy as reported by the Maritime Herald Product tanker Ad Matsu attacked by pirates in South China Sea

The asphalt and bitumen product tanker Ad Matsu was attacked by pirates in South China Sea on 15 nautical miles north off Tanjung Berakit, Indonesia. The vessel was en route from Singapore to Hai Phong, Vietnam, but near the island Pulau Bintan was reached by fast boat from the starboard. Six armed men succeeded to board

Box is general area of attack

the vessel and took control of the tanker. The crew was locked in the mess room, while pirates robbed the vessel and stole all the cash and valuables of the seamen. After robbery the pirates abandoned the vessel and fled away to Malaysia. There were no injured seamen from the product tanker Ad Matsu during the piracy attack. The crew reported about the accident and vessel returned in operations.

The Indonesian Navy found and arrested one of the pirates in large scale anti-piracy operation. The young man was arrested and will be investigated and judged for piracy according to the Indonesian laws.

Fishing "piracy" off Somalia seems to be back as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in As piracy is contained, Somali fishermen again compete with illegal vessels in their waters:

When the horn of Africa's infamous pirate gangs first emerged two decades ago, they were Somali fishermen arming themselves to fight off illegal fishing boats from other parts of the world.

International patrol vessels now guard Somalia's coastline making the waters relatively safe. The pirates are gone but that's created the opportunity for illegal fishing activity by Asian and European interests. Once again these high seas trawlers are competing with the locals and there are fears tensions could again escalate.

Not so sure the "pirate gangs" were all that innocent in the old days . . . on the other hand some Somali warlords were licensing fishing boats to operate in Somali waters to the detriment of Somali fishermen. See The Two Piracies in Somalia: Why the World Ignores the Other? by Mohamed Abshir Waldo:

In arrangements with Somali warlords, new companies were formed abroad for bogus fishing licensing purposes. Jointly owned mafia Somali-European companies set up in Europe and Arabia worked closely with Somali warlords who issued them fake fishing “licenses” to any foreign fishing pirate willing to plunder the Somali marine resources. UK and Italy based African and Middle East Trading Co. (AFMET), PALMERA and UAE based SAMICO companies were some of the corrupt vehicles issuing such counterfeit licenses as well as fronting for the warlords who shared the loot.

Among technical advisors to the Mafia companies – AFMET, PALMIRA & SAMICO - were supposedly reputable firms like MacAllister Elliot & Partners of the UK. Warlords Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidiid, Gen. Mohamed Hersi Morgan, Osman Atto and Ex-President Ali Mahdi Mohamed officially and in writing gave authority to AFMET to issue fishing “licenses”, which local fishermen and marine experts call it simply a “deal between thieves”. According to Africa Analysis of November 13, 1998, AFMET alone “licensed” 43 seiners (mostly Spanish, at $30,000 per 4-month season. Spanish Pesca Nova was “licensed” by AFMET while French Cobracaf group got theirs from SAMICO at a much discounted rate of $15,000 per season per vessel.

Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 12 July - 10 August 2016 by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 17 May - 15 June 2016 and a New Maritime Security Approach in Southeast Asia

Office of Naval Intelligence Threats to Shipping:

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 17 May - 15 June 2016

Not mentioned in the report (due to its timing), Three southeast Asian nations to designate shipping corridor to battle piracy:

Celebes and Sulu Seas indicated by ovals

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia signed the agreement to designate a transit corridor for commercial vessels in order to prevent hijacks by pirates.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines on Monday agreed to designate a transit corridor for commercial vessels crossing a maritime zone hit by a spate of hijackings by Islamist militants in the southern Philippines.

Nearly 20 Indonesian and Malaysian tugboat crew have been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf militants this year, with Jakarta airing fears that the problem could reach levels seen off the coast of Somalia.
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Analysts say $40-billion worth of cargo passes through the Sulu and Celebes seas each year, including supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.

The three countries also agreed to step up air and sea patrols and escorts for commercial ships in the common maritime areas to fend off potential hijacks, kidnaps and robbery.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the leaders agreed to share the best practices evolved by Indonesia and Malaysia during a joint effort to patrol the busy Malacca Strait waterway against pirates, as a model for three-way cooperation with the Philippines.

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Analysts say $40-billion worth of cargo passes through the Sulu and Celebes seas each year, including supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.

The three countries also agreed to step up air and sea patrols and escorts for commercial ships in the common maritime areas to fend off potential hijacks, kidnaps and robbery.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the leaders agreed to share the best practices evolved by Indonesia and Malaysia during a joint effort to patrol the busy Malacca Strait waterway against pirates, as a model for three-way cooperation with the Philippines.

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There was no immediate comment from the Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Piracy near Somalia’s coast has subsided after shipping firms hired private security details and international warships patrolled the waters.

It's a Reuters report. Love the "no immediate comment from the . . . rebels" bit.

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 February - 16 March 2016

Late on my part, but here's the

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 February - 16 March 2016

U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 9 February - 9 March 2016

From ONI:

U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 9 February - 9 Mar 2016

For those of you interested in the smuggling of migrants, an interesting blog from a law professor at the University of Southern California, Migrants at Sea, one post of which links to this NATO news release about an expansion of it counter-migrant program in the Mediterranean/Aegean from international waters into territorial waters of NATO members Greece and Turkey:

NATO took swift decisions to deploy ships to the Aegean Sea to support our Allies Greece and Turkey, as well as the EU's border agency FRONTEX, in their efforts to tackle the migrant and refugee crisis. NATO ships are already collecting information and conducting monitoring in the Aegean Sea. Their activity will now be expanded to take place also in territorial waters.
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the purpose of NATO's deployment is not to stop or push back migrant boats, but to help our Allies Greece and Turkey, as well as the European Union, in their efforts to tackle human trafficking and the criminal networks that are fueling this crisis.

Yes, criminals committing crimes at sea.

As the good professor at Migrants at Sea notes:

NATO’s characterisation of its operation seems to be an attempt to draw a distinction between a push-back practice where any migrant boat, regardless of whether it is in need of rescue, would be intercepted and pushed back and a search and rescue operation providing assistance to migrant boats in need of rescue. This is meaningless distinction given the current situation in the Aegean where every migrant boat is in need of assistance or rescue.

NATO video on their efforts in the Aegean:

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Piracy Info to 17 Feb 2016 and an "Advisory" About the Gulf of Guinea

From the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence  this

Gulf of Guinea Piracy Advisory

The Office of Naval Intelligence advises all shipping entities operating in the Gulf of Guinea region to maintain vigilance in light of the on-going piracy threat. Recent activity, specifically - a tanker hijacked within the
past week off the coast of Ivory Coast, indicates pirates may be actively seeking to hijack another vessel, potentially in the near-term. The regionat-large remains at-risk to piracy although this advisory is intended to put special emphasis for ships within 100 nautical miles of Tema, Ghana; Lome,Togo; and Contonou, Benin.

Or, basically, offshore of the countries lining the Gulf of Guinea, especially those in the northern rim.

And the latest World Wide Threat to Shipping:

Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 18 January - 17 February 2016

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence "Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 1 1 January - 10 February 2016"

Unclassified report from the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence:

The Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) message provides info on piracy threats to, and criminal action against, merchant vessels worldwide in the last 30 days. This report is produced primarily to inform merchant mariners and naval forces.

U..S. Navy Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 1 1 January - 10 February 2016

From the ONI Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly dated 11 Feb 16, a graphic on the activity in the Gulf of Guinea: