Singapore: The number of piracy incidents in Asian waters increased by 5% last year, with a sharp rise in attacks in the South China Sea. In 2009 there were 101 incidents of piracy in Asian waters, comprising 81 actual attacks and 20 attempted, reported to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre in Singapore.
This represents a 5% increase over the 96 attacks in 2008, however there was a decrease in the number of actual incidents last year. ReCAAP attributed the greater number of failed incidents to increased crew vigilance and pro-active anti-piracy measures.
The South China Sea though saw a nearly doubling the number of incidents from seven in 2008 to 13 last year, with 11 successful attacks.
However overall in Asia the ReCAAP noted piracy had not increased as much as feared given the economic downturn, unlike the previous surge in the Asian Financial Crisis. [20-01-10]
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