Tanker robbers arrested after Singapore Strait surge

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) has confirmed a fourfold year-on-year increase in reported incidents in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) during the first half of 2025, with 80 cases recorded, compared with 21 in the same period in 2024.

Of these, the majority involved vessels underway at night, and included multiple boardings of tankers.

ReCAAP’s ISC Half-Yearly Report on Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia, released in July 2025, classifies 92 of the 95 reported incidents in Asia as actual boardings, with 84% occurring in the SOMS region.

The report noted 68 of the 80 incidents in the Singapore Strait occurred while ships were underway, with perpetrators typically operating in groups of four to six individuals.

In most cases, perpetrators fled upon detection and were armed only with knives or did not use weapons at all.

The report noted, “While most of these incidents are considered as less severe (CAT 3 and CAT 4), due to the absence of confrontation between the perpetrators and crew, it is a cause for concern, as the crew was put at risk and there is a possibility of the situation escalating.”

In a related development, a group of 11 suspects was arrested in early July 2025, after an attempted boarding of a tanker transiting the Singapore Strait.

According to local media referencing the ReCAAP findings, the arrests were carried out by the Indonesian police (Riau Islands Regional Water Police), who apprehended eight suspects at sea and a further three on land.

The Singapore Strait continues to account for the highest number of reported armed robbery cases in Asia.

ReCAAP called on all stakeholders to intensify their efforts in mitigating risks to vessels, especially tankers and bulk carriers underway in the eastbound and westbound lanes of the Traffic Separation Scheme.