SINGAPORE – The number of piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Singapore Strait hit a seven-year high in 2022, with most of these crimes linked to bigger ships such as bulk carriers and tankers.

There were 55 incidents in the Singapore Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes – up from 49 in 2021 and 34 in 2020.

Most of the cases involved petty theft, and the crews were not harmed in 53 of the 55 incidents.

While 41 cases involved bigger ships, the remaining 14 occurred on tug boats and supply vessels.

These figures were released on Tuesday in an annual report by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (Recaap) Information Sharing Centre.

Mr Krishnaswamy Natarajan, executive director of Recaap, said these piracy and armed robbery cases were crimes that were opportunistic in nature.

He also noted that the social and economic situation had an impact on the increase in cases in 2022.

“On average, 1,000 ships travel through the Singapore Strait daily. So the environment is conducive and the opportunistic targets are available. For perpetrators who are (struggling) socially and economically and want to make a quick buck, they will weigh the situation and will (strike),” he said.

According to Recaap’s annual report, most of the cases last year involved perpetrators who escaped almost immediately when spotted by the ship’s crew.

Ms Lee Yin Mui, assistant director (research) at Recaap, said that there were two incidents where the perpetrators were violent to the crew.

“In one incident, the perpetrators tied the duty motorman in the engine room, pushed him to the floor and threatened him,” she said, but noted that the man was not injured.

Most of the crimes were carried out after dark, with mostly unsecured items on the ship or engine spares taken for resale in the region.

More than half of the incidents involved groups of between one and three perpetrators, while 17 cases involved groups of four to six.

For the whole of Asia, 84 piracy and armed robbery incidents against ships were reported in 2022 – a 2 per cent rise from the 82 in 2021.

To address the growth in incidents in the Singapore Strait, Recaap recommended that the strait’s three littoral states – Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia – enhance coordinated surveillance and patrol as well as respond promptly to incidents.

“As long as enforcement agencies continue to maintain the deterrence and continue to propagate that their waters are secured... the situation can be tackled,” said Mr Natarajan.