A Liberia-flagged bulk carrier was boarded by three perpetrators while sailing in the Singapore Strait on March 16, 2020.
At the time of the incident, the 71,313 cbm Sam Jaguar was in the waters about 6.8 nautical miles east of Pulau Karimun Kecil, Indonesia, information provided by ReCAAP shows.
After boarding the vessel, the robbers were locked in the engine room by the ship crew, according to a separate statement issued by Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF Singapore).
The incident was immediately reported to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Port Operations Control Centre (POCC).
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN)’s Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF) commenced close monitoring of the vessel, and despatched the littoral mission vessel RSS Independence and police coast guard craft towards the location of the incident. Simultaneously, the RSN’s Information Fusion Centre (IFC) shared the information with Indonesian authorities.
The Indonesian Navy deployed two ships and one helicopter to hail and board Sam Jaguar in Indonesian territorial waters. The three perpetrators were subsequently detained.
The crew on board the 2013-built bulk carrier were safe and unharmed and nothing was stolen.
“Today’s operational outcome is due to the good cooperation and quick response between Singaporean and Indonesian enforcement agencies,” Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Ow, Head IFC, said, speaking about the incident.
“By working closely together with the shipping community and littoral states to monitor our waters and share information, we can quickly cue operational responses and keep up the pressure on sea robbers to bring sea robbery incidents down.”
The 57,200 dwt Sam Jaguar is owned by Switzerland’s company SAM, according to VesselsValue’s data.