CNA Explains: What's behind the surge in sea robberies in the Singapore Strait?

CNA

18-05-2025

SINGAPORE: Since the start of 2025, a total of 50 sea robbery incidents have been reported in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
All of them took place in the Singapore Strait, according to data from the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
This was a stark increase from 14 incidents over the same period (Jan 1 to May 7) last year.
As one of the world's busiest shipping lanes with over 1,000 vessels passing through daily, the Singapore Strait has long been flagged by ReCAAP as an area of concern due to a perpetual rash of sea robberies.
Sea robberies typically occur within a state's internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea; while piracy refers to illegal acts of violence or detention committed on the high seas.
What do the numbers over the years show?
ReCAAP, together with its Information Sharing Centre, was proposed as far back as in 1999 after countries in the region expressed concern over sea robbery cases.
In the Singapore Strait alone, an upward trend can be observed since 2019.
There were 31 incidents that year - from seven in 2018. These include both actual and attempted attacks.
The number has continued to rise steadily, reaching 61 last year.
That figure out of the Singapore Strait is more than half of the 116 sea robbery incidents reported globally last year, to the International Maritime Bureau.
These reports take into account attacks in locations such as Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Americas and Africa.
Where are most of the incidents in the Singapore Strait occurring?
Out of the 50 reported this year so far, 47 were in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait's Traffic Separation Scheme, which routes and prevents collisions between maritime vessels travelling in opposing directions.
The locations were predominantly in the proximity of neighbouring islands to Singapore, one of which lies about 14km south of the mainland.
What's being stolen?
The sea robbers here tend to go after portable items not secured to ships. These include engine and generator spare parts, as well as scrap metal.
In other incidents, ship stores such as padlocks and work tools like a hand drill and a jig saw machine were looted.
Robbers sometimes make off with personal belongings too.
However, in half of the incidents in the Singapore Strait this year, the perpetrators actually left empty-handed.
Who are these robbers?
Maritime security researcher Ian Storey told CNA the majority of the attacks occurred in Indonesian waters. A number of organised criminal gangs, believed to be operating from the Riau Islands, were said to be behind most of them, he added.
The ringleaders of these gangs often employ fishermen who find themselves temporarily out of work, noted the senior fellow in the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute think tank.
Mr Toby Stephens from global maritime law firm HFW said the robbers also appear to be based in the more remote islands of Indonesia, such as Pulau Cula.
"In many cases they are opportunistically taking advantage of their remote location, which makes tracking, tracing and pursuit of the perpetrators more difficult," said the head of HFW's Asia-Pacific crisis management team.
"The evidence suggests that they are low-level, opportunistic criminals; armed, but rarely violent; and unidentified and elusive."
What's their modus operandi?
In all of the 50 incidents this year, the robbers targeted mostly large bulk carriers and tankers while they were sailing.
Most of the attacks took place during the early hours of the day, typically between 1am to 6am.
The robbers tended to travel on small vessels such as boats and sampans, which are wooden boats with a flat bottom. They would approach the back of the ships such as the aft deck or the stern, and climb up the hull using hooks or ropes.
Most of them were armed with knives. Some other weapons include hammers and parangs, which are cleavers commonly used in Malaysia and Indonesia. In three incidents, the perpetrators carried guns.
When the culprits are armed, the incident is typically classified as Category 3 and upwards.
Majority of the reports in the Singapore Strait this year were spread across Categories 3 and 4, which are seen as "less" or "least" significant.
Five incidents were assessed as Category 2, with crew members tied up in some cases. But nothing reported so far has been classed as Category 1.
Incidents in this category involve a large number of armed perpetrators, with the crew suffering some form of injury or physical violence and the ship either hijacked or its cargo such as oil plundered.
What's driving these robberies?
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute's Dr Storey said a variety of factors are at work, including poor socioeconomic conditions; corruption within shipping companies and law enforcement agencies; and the target-rich environment in the Singapore Strait.
Indonesia has a vast maritime domain but "limited assets" to police it, said Dr Storey, who also specialises in defence and security issues in Southeast Asia.
"The Indonesian navy and coast guard can't be everywhere all the time."
The Information Fusion Centre (IFC), a regional maritime security centre under the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), has also pointed to a mix of seasonal and situational conditions.
In a quarterly summary of incidents during the first three months of 2025, IFC noted that the northeast monsoon - between December and March - has affected fishing yield.
Increased financial burdens leading up to festivities in February and March could have pushed locals to resort to petty crime in coastal waters to supplement their income, the centre added.
Are the increasing numbers cause for concern?
Concern, yes - but not alarm, said Dr Storey.
He reiterated that the majority of attacks involve petty theft rather than hijacking, kidnapping or stealing cargo.
For this same reason, he - as well as HFW's Mr Stephens - believes the impact on maritime trade so far has been minimal.
Both experts, however, said insurance premiums could go up for vessels passing through the Singapore Strait, should attacks remain unchecked or grow in frequency and intensity.
Shipping companies would pass on these costs to their clients, who would in turn pass them on to consumers.
But Mr Stephens said it was "unlikely" that the man on the street would feel any sort of impact.
"When compared to the total vessels trading through the Straits each year, (the number of sea robberies) is a tiny, tiny proportion," he noted. "By example, the Port of Singapore alone recorded a record high of 3.11 billion gross tonnes of arriving ship traffic (last year)."
What is Singapore's approach to sea robberies?
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) and the RSN work together to secure territorial waters.
MPA regularly issues information on sea robbery incidents in the Straits of Singapore and Malacca, to vessels most commonly involved in such incidents.
PCG leans on international cooperation, patrols and a network of cameras and other systems to respond to criminal activities within Singapore's territorial waters.
It will board vessels that have encountered armed robbery incidents in Singapore waters, and investigate accordingly.
For the RSN, it set up a Maritime Security Task Force in 2009, and a Singapore Maritime Crisis Centre in 2011.
The navy's IFC also shares real-time information among Singapore's neighbours, as part of close collaboration that also involves coordinated sea and air patrols.
The Singapore Strait also includes the territorial waters of Malaysia and Indonesia.
What more can be done?
Even closer and greater collaboration among Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is the way forward, said the analysts CNA spoke to.
"Indonesia should allow Singapore and Malaysia 'hot pursuit rights' into its waters," said Dr Storey.
He also called on Indonesia to crack down on the criminal gangs behind the attacks at sea, such as by arresting and convicting the sea robbers. "At the moment, very few perpetrators are detained and prosecuted."
Mr Stephens said the three countries could provide joint guidance to seafarers and mariners transiting the region on what to look out for, along with preventive measures and avenues to seek assistance.
He added that more patrols in remote areas identified as hotspots - possibly assisted by the use of drones and unmanned systems - would also be helpful.
"But, in all honesty, it is very unlikely to eradicate the practice entirely, unless the underlying socioeconomic and political factors are eradicated."