The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that
the number of reported piracy incidents worldwide had continued to decline in
global piracy, but called for sustained efforts to maintain the progress seen
in 2022.
IMB said that there had been fewer armed incidents,
kidnappings, or hijackings. It highlighted the fact that five areas, with an
emphasis on the waters around Singapore, accounted for two-thirds of all the
incidents reported last year.
IMB Director Michael Howlett said that “the IMB calls for
efforts to be sustained worldwide as maritime piracy and armed robbery attacks
reached their lowest recorded level in almost three decades”, adding that the
IMB applauded the prompt and decisive actions of the international navies and
regional authorities in the Gulf of Guinea, which he said had “positively
contributed to the drop in reported incidents and ensuring continued safety to
crews and trade.”
Worldwide the IMB said that it received reports of 115
incidents in 2022, including piracy and armed robbery against ships. That
compared with a total of 132 incidents in 2021.
While the rate of incidents had fallen, in 95% of cases
the vessels attacked had been boarded. IMB said there were 107 vessels boarded
during the year, with five additional attempts. Only two vessels were reported
hijacked and only one was fired upon.
Incidents were nearly evenly split between vessels either
underway or at anchor while vessels at berth were far less likely to be
attacked.
The report noted that the waters of Southeast Asia and in
particular the Singapore Straits were both the most dangerous in 2022 and also
the area where the number of incidents was still on the rise. In the past five
years the number of reported incidents in the Singapore Straits rose from three
in 2018 to 38 in 2022. Last year all of the vessels boarded had been underway
in the Strait. These incidents were nearly all considered to be opportunistic,
low-level crimes. However in a few cases they were armed robberies, with two
crews threatened and four others were taken hostage for the duration of the
incident. In only three of the incidents, however, was a gun reported, and
often the boarders left quickly if they were discovered.
IMB said that there were also 10 reports in Indonesia and
12 in Peru.
The number of incidents in the Gulf of Guinea fell from
82 in 2018 and 84 in 2020 to just 19 in 2022.
