On October 2nd, in the vicinity off Anambas Islands, in the South China Sea, the Sunrise 689, a product tanker laden with 5 226t of gasoil was hijacked, as it was enroute to the Vietnamese port of Quand Tri. The pirates stole part of the cargo, damaged communication and navigation equipment. No harm was made to the crew, which were released on October 9th.
The context of such an event is the revival of piracy attacks in the region over the past months. Attacks have been reported to the IMB off the coast of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. In 2013, the IMB reported 128 piracy attacks or attempts in SEA, a majority in the vicinity of Indonesian waters, whilst 80 were signalled two years earlier.
The specificity of the Sunrise 689 attack relies in the size of the vessel boarded. Regional pirates almost exclusively target medium and small ships. In April, pirates had hijacked an oil tanker off the shores of Malaysia, wounding the captain and stealing the cargo. During the same month, Indonesian crew were kidnapped in the Malacca Strait. Oil cargo was stolen as well.
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