According to the ReCAAP ISC the early morning attacks took place at 0230 on Aug 17 and 0216 on Aug 19 on the tugs Bina Marine 61 and Marcopolo 17 respectively.
The first incident took place when the Singapore-registered pusher tug Bina Marine 61 was underway at approximately 1.3 nm south of Pulau Takong Kecil Lt, Indonesia when two robbers armed with sharp weapons boarded it. The crew was tied up but not hurt and the robbers escaped with their personal belongings including cash, mobile phones and laptop.
Just two days later, the Indonesian-registered tug Marcopolo 17 towing barge Marcopolo 268 was underway at approximately 6.6 nm south-southeast of Pulau Tekong Kecil Lt, Indonesia when four robbers armed with knives boarded the vessel from a speedboat. They also left the crew unharmed and made off with with their personal belongings, and also took rice and rations.
According to procedure, Singapore Port Operations Control Centre, which is also ReCAAP focal point for Singapore, made broadcasts to alert mariners in the vicinity and informed the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), Singapore’s Police Coast Guard (PCG), MRCC (KL) and MRCC (Jakarta).
Since the beginning of the year, a total of nine incidents, all involving tug boats were reported in the vicinity. Notedly, the Bina Marine 61 is the first non-towing tug to be attacked here, possibly due to its slow speed as a pusher tug. All the other incidents have involved tug and barge pairs.
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