Asian piracy watchdog ReCAAP ISC has warned ship, particularly tug boat, owners to stay alert while transiting the Singapore Strait.
The center urged ship crews to exercise enhanced vigilance, adopt extra precautionary measures and report all incidents immediately to the nearest coastal State.
Additionally, relevant littoral States were prompted to step up surveillance, increase patrols and respond quickly to all reports of incidents.
During January-April 2019, four incidents of unauthorised boarding of ships in locations of close proximity to each other were reported in the western sector of Singapore Strait.
All four incidents occurred to tug boats towing barges and dredger while underway in the westbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). Of the four incidents, two incidents reported loss of scrap metal, and nothing was reported stolen in the other two incidents. The crew was not injured, ReCAAP informed.