Southern Philippines News

Four crew members from a cargo ship that ran aground off the southern Philippines have died, while seven have been rescued and a search is continuing for nine others, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Wednesday.The crew of LCT Cebu Great Ocean abandoned the vessel, which was carrying nickel ore and 2,000 liters of diesel, before it ran aground in Surigao del Norte province on Monday, the coast guard said.The bodies of the four crew members were found after being washed onto the shore…

The ReCAAP ISC has produced the “Guidance on Abduction of Crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and Waters off Eastern Sabah”.The guidance focuses on the incidents of abduction of crew from ships for ransom in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and in the waters off Eastern Sabah. It provides the guidance and analysis based on the information collected from past incidents in order to assist the shipping industry and ships to enhance their situation awareness and avoid such incidents.This guidance complements the general guidance contained in the “Regional Guide to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia”The Sulu-Celebes Seas region covers the tri-boundary area of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd (MOL) said that its liquefied natural gas (LNG)carrier LNG Pioneer safely rescued four castaways in the Pacific Ocean about 270km off Davao in the Island of Mindanao, the Philippines.The Bahamas-flagged LNG Pioneer was sailing off the coast of Davao Oriental province in the southern Philippines when it came across the distressed crew floating in the water aboard what was left of their fishing boat.The sequence of events was as follows:At 11:28 (all times in local time) on July 5, the 2005 built  LNG Pioneer spotted the castaways while underway.By 12:25 the same day, the crew had safely rescued the four castaways.At 04:02 the next day…

Global maritime piracy activity fell to its lowest level in over two decades, according to the latest International Maritime Bureau (IMB) report. The 180 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported to the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) IMB in 2017 was the lowest annual number since 1995, when 188 incidents were reported. According to the IMB, pirates boarded 136 vessels in 2017, while 22 attacks were attempted, 16 vessels fired upon and six vessels hijacked.

Four people were killed and seven were missing after a Philippine ferry with 251 people on board capsized during bad weather on Thursday near the capital, Manila, disaster officials and a coastguard spokesman said. Accidents involving boats sailing between the many islands of the Philippines are common. Vessels are often overloaded but the coastguard said that was not the case on Thursday and the ferry had the capacity to carry 286 people. A total of 240 people were rescued from the sea by fishermen and rescue boats sent out by the coastguard hours after the ferry capsized and sank…

Pirates and armed robbers attacked 43 ships and captured 58 seafarers in the first quarter of 2017, slightly more than the same period last year, according to the latest ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy report. The global report highlights persisting violence in piracy hotspots off Nigeria and around the Southern Philippines – where two crew members were killed in February. Indonesia also reported frequent incidents, mostly low-level thefts from anchored vessels. In total, 33 vessels were boarded and four fired upon in the first three months of 2017.

Japan has offered to send patrol ships to deal with a growing piracy threat in the southern Philippine waters bordering Indonesia and Malaysia, a senior Philippine defence official said on Tuesday. A surge in piracy off parts of the southern Philippines is forcing ship-owners to divert vessels through other waters, pushing up costs and shipping times. Dozens of sailors have been taken captive by Abu Sayyaf. Japanese vice minister Ro Manabe offered the assistance at a meeting in Tokyo on Friday and expressed readiness to contribute to efforts by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia "in addressing piracy and terrorism", said Raymund Quilop, assistant defence minister for assessments and international affairs.

Sea piracy plunged to its lowest levels in 18 years in 2016, but kidnappings of crew members for ransom is escalating off west Africa and in the Sulu Seas near the Philippinessayd International Maritime Bureau (IMB). The global maritime watchdog said  in its annual report that more crew were kidnapped at sea in 2016 than in any of the previous 10 years, despite global piracy reaching its lowest levels since 1998. 191 piracy incidents were recorded worldwide, down from 246 in 2015 and the lowest level since 1998. It said pirates hijacked seven vessels and held 151 hostages, down from 15 ships and 271 hostages in 2015. The report said pirates kidnapped 62 people for ransom in 15 separate incidents in 2016. The maritime kidnappings showed a threefold increase from those in 2015.

The Sulu Sea between eastern Malaysia and the Philippines has become dangerous for merchant shipping due to rising threat of kidnappings, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Tuesday. The Sulu archipelago is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda linked group notorious for kidnappings and, increasingly, piracy. The IMB report was released just hours after armed men attacked a fishing boat, killing eight fishermen, in what appeared to be a pirate attack off the southern Philippines. IMB said global sea kidnappings rose three-fold in 2016, even as global piracy hit its lowest level in nearly 20 years. Pirates kidnapped 62 people for ransom in 15 separate incidents in 2016.

Armed men killed eight fishermen in what appeared to be an attack by pirates in dangerous waters in the southern Philippines, a coast guard spokesman said on Tuesday. The apparent act of piracy came as Philippine soldiers were given a six-month deadline to end Islamist militant threats, including those made on cargo ships in south, where a long-festering insurgency has been exacerbated by the growing influence of the Islamic State militant group. About two dozen sailors and tourists were taken captive by Islamist militants last year in attacks on tug boats and yachts in the Celebes and Sulu seas, raising concerns among defence officials from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines about Islamist militancy and piracy.

ReCAAP ISC has published its monthly report on piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia. In November 2016, a total of 10 incidents were reported, of which six were actual incidents while four were attempted incidents. Of the six actual incidents, five were incidents of armed robbery against ships and one was a piracy incident. Of great concern was the continued occurrence of incidents involving the abduction of crew from ships while underway in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and off eastern Sabah. In November 2016, one actual incident and four attempted incidents of abduction of crew were reported. A total of 77 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported from January - November 2016 in Asia.

Indonesia will resume some shipments of coal to the Philippines, a government official said on Sunday, after a months-long halt due to concerns about piracy in seas between the two archipelagos. Indonesia earlier this year slapped a moratorium on coal shipments to its neighbour after a string of hijackings by militants based in the southern Philippines, in which several Indonesian sailors were taken hostage. Only ships with a capacity of over 500 tonnes will be allowed to resume sailing while smaller vessels and tugboats are still banned. "For safety and security reasons ... all ships must sail in the recommended corridors and avoid conflict areas or waters (around) the southern Philippines and east Malaysia," Transportation Ministry official Tonny Budiono said.

In the light of three incidents where the crew of tug boats were abducted in the waters off Eastern Sabah and Southern Philippines, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC) published a special report on the ‘Abducting of Crew from Tug Boats in Waters off Eastern Sabah and Southern Philippines’. Between March and July 2016, six incidents occurred on board five tug boats towing barges and one fishing trawler, says the report. The report provides an update of the situation, which focuses on the modus operandi of the perpetrators, the status of the abducted crew and the actions taken to combat the events that have occurred. As a result of these six incidents, 33 crew members have been abducted.

The Indonesian Government has banned vessels flying Indonesias flag from sailing to the Philippines following the latest hostage incident. According to a report in AP,  Indonesia said, a halt on coal shipments to the Philippines will remain in place until Manila can secure its waters after seven Indonesian sailors were kidnapped, the latest in a string of abductions. The ruling was issued after the government confirmed the Indonesian sailors were kidnapped at gunpoint earlier this week, and were being held hostage. The growing frequency of maritime attacks by Islamist militants is for the first time affecting coal trade between the Southeast Asian neighbours.

Seven Indonesian sailors have been taken hostage in the Sulu Sea in the southern Philippines, Indonesia's foreign minister said on Friday, the latest in a string of abductions in the waters between the two Southeast Asian neighbours. "We got confirmation (yesterday) of an incident of kidnapping involving Indonesian crew of a ship," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters. He said the hijackings were carried out by two different armed groups. Six of the 13 crew on board were freed, Marsudi said, and were on their way back to Indonesia. The kidnappings come after the governments of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia agreed last month to carry out coordinated patrols to secure the region's busy waterways. Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor

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. Alarmed at the frequency of attacks, port authorities in some areas of Indonesia, particularly Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, have stopped issuing permits to ships taking coal to the southern Philippines. Indonesia is the world's largest thermal coal exporter and supplies 70 percent of the Philippines' coal imports.

Foreign ministers and defense force chiefs from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines signed a joint declaration on maritime security on Thursday, calling on all governments in the region to increase efforts to tackle marine threats, reports Jakarta Post. The three officials hashed out details of joint patrols, including issues on how the exchange of information would take place between the three countries. The leaders called for intensified maritime security following the recent kidnapping of seamen by the Southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf militant group, and other armed sea robberies, that have endangered national security in the region. - set up a hotline of communication among the three countries to better facilitate coordination during emergency situations and security threats.

Ten Indonesian tugboat crewmen held by the Abu Sayyaf terror gang in the southern Philippines were freed unharmed Sunday. The sailors arrived in Jakarta late on Sunday night, hours after they were released from captivity. They arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, East Jakarta, at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday using Jet Victoria News aircraft. Indonesia paid no ransom to free the sailors taken hostage, with efforts relying on negotiations, the lead Indonesian negotiator claimed on Monday. They were welcomed by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and the National Armed Forces Chief General Gatot Nurmantyo. “All crew members will be taken to hospital for medical examination,” Retno said Sunday, May 1, 2016 before adding that the victims would be returned to their family after the examination.

The Philippines has been discussing coordinated naval patrols on its southern maritime borders with Indonesia and Malaysia to protect shipping after attacks and kidnappings by Islamist militants, its foreign minister said on Thursday. Indonesia is trying to free about 14 of its citizens seized from tugboats by Abu Sayyaf rebels from the southern Philippines and has called for joint patrols. Four Malaysians seamen are also being held. The Islamist rebels, who are raking in tens of millions of dollars in ransom, decapitated a Canadian on Monday and are still holding 23 hostages. Citizens of the Netherlands, Japan, Norway and the Philippines are among them.

Commercial ships have been told to avoid shipping routes around Indonesia and Philippines amid fears that piracy could be reaching Somalian levels, according to Reuters. A spate of kidnappings and pirate attacks in the waterways between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines has prompted the three countries to explore the option of having joint patrols. The waters form part of major shipping arteries that carry US$40 billion worth of cargo a year, analysts say, and the corridor is used by fully laden supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait waterway. A total of 18 Indonesians and Malaysians have been taken captive in three separate attacks on tugboats in Philippine waters along the route…

The Indonesian Navy has instructed all commercial vessels to avoid piracy-prone waters around the southern Philippines, a spokesman for the Indonesian military said on Thursday, following a spate of kidnappings and piracy in recent weeks. "The Indonesian Navy, through the Western Sea Security Cluster, is increasing the intensity of patrols up to the exclusive economic zone border with the Philippines and Malaysia to prevent acts of piracy and hijacking," Indonesian military spokesman Tatang Sulaiman told Reuters in a text message. The busy shipping route along Indonesia's maritime border with the Philippines carries $40 billion worth of cargo each year, notably fully laden supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.

Authorities from at least two Indonesian coal ports have stopped allowing vessels to leave for the Philippines due to security concerns following a spate of ship hijackings in the southern Philippines, a government official said on Wednesday. Departure permits for the Philippines were no longer available for shipping vessels at the Port of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan and Tarakan in North Kalimantan, said Indonesia's acting director general of sea transportation Umar Aris. "The situation in the Philippines is considered not safe and some of our ships were hijacked," Aris told Reuters. "Tomorrow, I'll have a meeting with the Navy and State Intelligence Agency to further discuss the matter.

Indonesian government said that the company that owns the hijacked tugboat Brahma 12 has agreed to pay the 50-million-peso ($1 million) ransom demanded by the Philippine rebel group Abu Sayyaf for the release of 10 Indonesian crewmembers who have been held hostage since March 26. Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan confirmed this, saying the company and the militants, believed to be linked to Abu Sayyaf, may next communicate today. Negotiations for the handover of the money and the captives are still ongoing, said Luhut. "They've already agreed that the 50 million pesos will be handed over at a specific location," he said, according to Indonesian newspaper Republika.