INFORMATION FUSION CENTRE

AFPN 6504
103 Tanah Merah Coast Road, #02-01
Singapore 498750
Tel: +65 9626 8965 (Mobile)
+65 6594 5728 (Office)
Fax:
+65 6594 5734
IFC_DO@defence.gov.sg
www.infofusioncentre.gov.sg
24 Mar 15

INFORMATION FUSION CENTRE

MARSEC WEEKLY REPORT
14 - 20 Mar 15

Figure 1: Location of Incidents in IFC Area of Interest

For the period from 14 20 Mar 15, IFC received information as follows:
IUU Fishing

Piracy / Sea Robbery / Sea Theft

Irregular Human Migration

Weapons Trafficking

Maritime Incident

Contraband Trafficking

Natural Event

Maritime Terrorism

Note: 2 Contraband Trafficking Incidents, 1 IUU Fishing, 1 Maritime Incidents, 1 Irregular Human Migration
and 1 Piracy/Sea Robbery/Sea Theft Incident were reported out of the reporting period.

OVERVIEW OF INCIDENTS
Contraband Trafficking
17 Mar - Naval Troops Arrested 2
Persons with Cannabis/Puttalam &
Anamaduwa /Sri Lanka
Details: Naval troops from the Sir Lanka
Navy in Puttalam arrested a person with
120 grams of cannabis and another person
with 50 grams of cannabis in Anamaduwa.
They were handed over to Puttalam and
Anamaduwa Police respectively for further
investigations.
18 Mar Security Forces Confiscated
1,000 Sacks of Smuggled Rice/Sulu/
Philippines
Details: Joint security forces detained a
passenger vessel loaded with an estimated
1,000 sacks of smuggled rice that came
from Sulu. The vessel was heading
towards the southern port city of
Zamboanga.

20
Mar

Diesel
Sarawak/Malaysia

Smuggling/

Details: A vessel was stopped by the

Marine Police along the Sarawak River
during a routine check and subsequently
found to be laden with fuel. There were
discrepancies
with
the
documents
produced which raised doubts regarding
the legality of the fuel on board the vessel.
The case has been handed over to local
authorities for further action.
Events reported outside of the period:
12 Mar 52 Detained for Drug Related
Offences/ Seberang Perai, Penang
/Malaysia

18 Mar - Marine Cops Detained Boat

Loaded With Sand/Sarawak/Malaysia

Details: 52 people including 31 drug

addicts were detained off the waters of
Seberang Perai. 31 individuals were tested
positive for drugs, while the rest were
found in possession of drugs or wanted by
police for drug-related cases.

Details: Marine police detained a boat

conducting sand dredging activity at
Rajang River, Sarawak without permit.

12 Mar - Customs Confiscated Sport

Car and Motorcycles Shipped as Used
Bicycles/Manila/ Philippines

19 Mar - 2 Vessels Detained For

Illegally
Transferring
Sludge
Oil/Tanjung Piai/Malaysia

Details:
A sports car and several
motorcycles were confiscated by the
Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Manila
International Container Port after the
shipment was found to be declared as used
bicycles.

Details : 2 vessels were detained by the

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
(MMEA) for illegally transferring sludge
oil to another ship 2.6 nautical miles from
Tanjung Piai. The vessels were detained
for investigation.

Irregular Human Migration

15 Mar - MMEA Foiled Attempt to
Smuggle into Sabah/Sabah/Malaysia
Details: MMEA had foiled an attempt by
5 people to smuggle into Sabah waters
using a local fishing boat. The 5
passengers failed to produce proper
identity and travel documents. The crew of
the fishing vessel were also detained for
investigation.
16 Mar 69 Illegal Immigrants
Arrested by Marine Police/ Bandar
Penawar, Johor /Malaysia

18 Mar - 25 Detained For Violating

Employment Laws/ Kuala Muda,
Kedah/ Malaysia
Details : MMEA detained 25 fishermen
for violating fishing and employment laws
off the waters of Kuala Muda, Kedah.
Those detained comprised 11 foreigners
and 14 locals. The foreigners did not have
valid travel permits or proper work
documents.
Events reported outside of the period:

Details: The Marine Police arrested 69

illegal immigrants, including 10 women
off the waters of Bandar Penawar, Johor.

11 Mar - Marine police cripples Human

Trafficking Activities/Malacca/
Malaysia

18 Mar 15 Illegal Immigrants

Arrested
by
Marine
Police/
Pengerang/Malaysia

Details: The Marine Police in Malacca

arrested 8 suspects off the waters of
Klebang, Malacca, for involvement of
human trafficking.

Details: The Marine Police arrested 15

Indonesian who attempted to enter
Malaysia illegally via sea routes. They
failed to show valid travel documents and
they were taken to the police station for
further investigation.
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing
14 Mar Trawlers and Pump Boats
Detained/Kota Kinabalu/Malaysia

to the Terengganu Fisheries Department

for further action.

Details: 7 fishing trawlers and 2 pump

boats were detained by the Marine Police
for trawling using seine fishing nets
without a permit off the waters of Pulau
Tabanka waters in Sabah.

16 Mar Illegal Fishing Vessels

Detained by Royal Thai Navy/Pattani/
Thailand

16 Mar Skipper and Crews Arrested

for Violation of Fishing Regulations/
Terengganu/Malaysia
Details: The skipper and 3 crews were
arrested by the Marine Police off the
waters of Sungai Terengganu for violating
fishing regulation. The case was submitted

Details: The Royal Thai Navy detained 3

illegal fishing vessels with 16 crews 38
nautical miles from Pattani province. The
vessels and all crews were handed over to
the police for further investigation.

16 March 40 Foreign Fishermen

Detained
By
MMEA/Terengganu/
Malaysia

17 Mar - IUU Vessel Detained / Phuket /

Thailand

Details: MMEA detained 40 foreign

fishermen for trespassing on state waters.
The fishermen do not have authorization to
fish in the waters of the state.

Details : A IUU fishing vessel had been

detained for investigation by Thai
authorities in Phuket. The fishing vessel
attempted to avoid detection by entering
the Thai port under another name and
using forged document.

16 Mar - 3 Vietnamese Fishing Boats

Detained by MMEA/Kuantan/Malaysia
Details: 3 Vietnamese fishing boats with 3
skippers and 41 crews were detained while
fishing illegally off the waters of Kuantan
by MMEA.
17 Mar Sri Lanka Navy Arrested 6
Fishermen
Engaged
in
Illegal
Fishing/Talaimannar/Sri Lanka
Details: Naval personnel attached to the
North Central Naval Command arrested 6
persons with 550 kilograms of illegal fish
catch in the seas off South Bar in
Talaimannar during a routine patrol. They
were handed over to the Fisheries
Department for further action against
engaging in illegal fishing using
explosives.

Events reported outside of the period:

14 Feb - Police Sink Malaysian Boats
Fishing Illegally in Indonesian Waters/
Kalimantan/Indonesia
Details: Police in East Kalimantan
detained 2 Malaysian fishing vessels
caught operating illegally in Indonesian
waters. The fishing trawlers were
operating in the Celebes Sea and found
with 300 kilograms of illegal catch
between them. Boats were seized on 14
Feb and sunk on 19 Mar off the waters of
Tarakan city in North Kalimantan.

Maritime Incidents
14 Mar Dozens Feared Dead in
Sinking Ferry /Rakhine/Myanmar

were dispatched to the scene. All 16 crews

were evacuated.

Details: The state-owned passenger ferry

carrying 214 passengers and crews
capsized some 60 nautical miles south-east
from Myaybon, Rakhine State. Water
flooded into the ship from the bow due to
severe weather. 167 passengers including
103 men and 64 women had been rescued.

15 Mar - Navy Rescues Passengers and

Crew
After
Ship
Sunk/Tanjung
Todang/Indonesia

14 Mar Chemical Tanker Caught Fire

Off Busan and Crew Evacuated/
Busan/South Korea
Details: Korean chemical tanker reported
fire on board while underway from Busan.
Korean Coast Guard ships and helicopters

Details: The Indonesian Navy has rescued

11 passengers and 8 crew stranded at sea
after their ship sunk off Tanjung Todang
waters near Bintan, Riau, due to flooding.
17 Mar Boat Runs Aground Off
Palawan and 25 Rescued/Palawan
/Philippines
Details: 25 passengers, including 7
foreigners, were rescued from a motorboat

that reportedly ran aground off Coron,

Palawan by the Philippine Coast Guard.
The boat left Barangay San Miguel in
Linapacan town. The boat got stuck in
shallow waters near Coron.

by Coy for past 12 hours, the tug was

observed to be drifting and this was
because her propeller had been tangled by
ropes and the crew are trying to untangle
the ropes before proceeding to her NPOC.

17 Mar Lost Communication / South

China Sea

Events reported outside of the period:

Details: IFC received information from

Company CSO that they had lost comms
with their Tug Boat since 170900H Mar
15, while en-route from Indonesia to
Vietnam in South China Sea.
The
company had managed to contact ship
master on 180500H Mar 15. Crews were
safe. The reason for the lost
communication was unclear at this
moment. Based on the position provided

7 Mar Vessel Detained by MMEA

/Johor/Malaysia
Details:
A vessel was detained by
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
(MMEA) after she was found anchoring
without permission and failed to report her
arrival in the waters of Tanjung Ayam,
Johor.

Piracy/Sea Robbery/Sea Theft

18 Mar Attempted Sea Theft /4.4NM
NE Nongsa Point, Batam/Indonesia
Details: IFC received information of an
attempted sea theft occurred on board a
Hong Kong, China-Flagged product tanker
at position Lat 01 15.6N, Long 104 09E,
4.4 nautical miles NE from Nongsa Point,
Batam, Indonesia on 180130LT Mar 15.
Nothing was reported stolen.
18 Mar MMEA Recovered Missing
Tanker/South China Sea
Details : MMEA Southern Region
successfully recovered a tanker that went
missing while on her way to Labuan on 10
March. MMEA deployed a speed boat and
patrol vessels for the search of the missing
vessel before they found the ship at about
1600LT on 11 Mar at position seven
nautical miles Southeast of Tanjung Labuh
in the Batu Pahat waters. From the
preliminary investigation, the tanker was
boarded by the perpetrators armed with
pistols and machetes in the South China
Sea. The cargo was siphoned and all
personal belongings were taken.

19 Mar Attempted Sea Theft / 6.4nm

SW of Horsburgh Lighthouse / SCS
Details: IFC received information of an
attempted sea theft incident occurred on
board a Singapore-Flagged Bulk Carrier at
position Lat 0116.8N Long 10418.8E
(6.4nm SW of Horsburgh Lighthouse) on
190248H Mar 15. The master reported 3
perpetrators were sighted on board. Alarm
was raised and a search was conducted.
The crew were all accounted for and safe
with no injury. No item was stolen.
Events reported outside of the period:
11 Mar Sea Theft / Vung Tau
Anchorage/Vietnam
Details: IFC received information of a sea
theft occurred on board a Greece flagged
bulk carrier at position Lat 10 15'N, Long
107 02'E, off Vung Tau Anchorage,
Vietnam, on 110500LT Mar 15. The Duty
A/B on board the anchored ship saw
perpetrators on deck. He immediately
informed the duty officer and the alarm

was raised. Upon hearing the alarm, the

perpetrators escaped with ships stores. No

injury to crew was reported.

Natural Events
15 Mar - Tropical Storm Bavi Heads Towards Philippines
Details: The tropical storm hovering over the Pacific Ocean is expected to head towards the
Philippines. The weather disturbance, packed with maximum sustained winds of 85 km per
hour (kph), is forecasted to move northwesterly at 30 kph.
Recommendations
IFC Advises:
1. All mariners to report any incidents timely to the nearest coastal state and IFC at the
earliest possible time.
2. Ships moving at slow speed or choosing to remain at anchor in areas where sea
robbery/theft is regularly reported to be vigilant and to adopt necessary security measures.
3. All mariners to take note on the description of the perpetrators and to take photos of the
perpetrators if possible.
4. Shippers and Seafarers operating in Sulu Sea and in vicinity of East Sabah Waters are
strongly recommended to be vigilant and to establish contact with both Malaysian and
Philippines Authorities to report their presence.
5. Shippers are advised to take note that al-Qaeda, in its recently launched English language
online magazine Resurgence, has called for the disruption of global trade and shipping
through acts of piracy, among other tactics. Shippers are therefore advised to exercise
vigilance and to adopt self-defensive measures as stated in BMP4, especially when
transiting narrow choke points and known sea robbery/piracy hot spots.
Note: Information herein was derived from various internal and external sources
such as Focal Points, OPCENs and other maritime stakeholders. Shippers should
remain vigilant especially in areas where the threat level is assessed to be above one
in accordance with the IFC Spot Commentary 2/14 and IFC quarterly assessment
report. Ships should apply the appropriate security measures (such as BMP4 or
Tugs and Barge Guide). Ship masters should also be aware and refer to the
Maritime Security Charts Q6112 and Q6113, both published by the UK
Hydrographic Office.
CONTACT
In case of any doubt, incident at sea, suspicious approach or unusual observed activity at sea,
please contact IFC: IFC Duty Officer:
Email :
IFC_DO@defence.gov.sg or ifc_do@infofusioncentre.gov.sg
Tel :
+65 9626 8965 (Mobile)
+65 6594 5728 (Office)
Fax :
+65 6594 5734

IFC RELEASABLE TO MARITIME INDUSTRY

The IFC seeks your observations in the course of your normal business. The IFC would like
to remind mariners to be mindful of national and international laws, company and other
policy requirements and also health and safety obligations, whilst recording these
observations. The reporting of such events to IFC does not absolve you of your obligations
towards coastal/ port/ flag authorities.

7
IFC RELEASABLE TO MARITIME INDUSTRY