We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) welcomed on Thursday the help of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to rescue a physician seized by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits in Sulu.
Maj. Arvin John Encinas, Westmincom spokesperson, said they welcome any assistance from all stakeholders to rescue Dr. Daniel Moreno who was seized by ASG gunmen from his clinic in Barangay Walled City, Jolo, Sulu, on February 4.
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Source: pna.gov.ph
The Philippine Coast Guard says the captain of the Panama-flagged MV Harmony 6 declared that they left Changzhou, China, on February 10, when the ship’s real departure date was February 18. The ship arrived in La Union on February 23.
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is investigating a foreign cargo vessel for allegedly violating the Philippines’ 14-day quarantine rule amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
PCG Spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilio said that PCG Commandant Admiral Joel Garcia ordered the investigation of the Panama-flagged MV Harmony 6, which arrived at Poro Point in La Union on February 23.
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Source: rappler.com
By Nonoy Lacson
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chair Yusop Jikiri Friday revealed that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) will be demanding P30 million from the employer of the five Indonesian nationals in Malaysia for their immediate release from captivity.
Jikiri said the MNLF has received reliable information that the ASG will demand P30 million from the fishing company where the five work as fishermen in Malaysia.
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Source: news.mb.com.ph
Only by seeking to measure maritime security dynamics in uniform and rigorous ways can we begin to understand the scope of the challenges and make progress.
By Jay Benson
In the realm of foreign and security policy, the maritime space is often overlooked. “Sea blindness” is real and it is often reflected in the amount of resources and policy attention paid to maritime security and governance around the world. However, as the maritime space gains attention as a theater for nontraditional security challenges and as space of increasingly important economic potential, so too does the need to empirically measure the scope of the challenges and the progress made in the maritime space. There are a plethora of indices, databases, and empirical reporting available on security and governance issues onshore, which contribute greatly to the understanding of policymakers on these phenomena, but the maritime space has yet to see the same application of empirical methods and analysis.
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Source: thediplomat.com
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Abu Sayyaf bandits kidnapped a doctor in Sulu last week to treat their leader, who is suffering from tuberculosis.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command chief, said Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan needs immediate medical assistance.
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Source: philstar.com
On 9 Feb 20, two incidents occurred within an interval of an hour to ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait. Some engine spares were stolen in one incident, and nothing was reported stolen in the other. There was no confrontation between the perpetrators and the crew. With these two incidents, a total of six incidents have been reported in the Singapore Strait since January 2020, all in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait.
The ReCAAP ISC had issued five Incident Alerts in 2019 and one Incident Alert in 2020 on incidents occurred to ships while underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait. A total of 31 incidents have been reported in the Singapore Strait in 2019. Of these, 17 occurred to ships while underway in the eastbound lane of the TSS in the Singapore Strait, and 14 incidents in the westbound lane.
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Source: recaap.org
KOTA KINABALU: The curfew in the waters off seven districts in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) which ends tomorrow has been extended until Feb 20.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah in a statement yesterday said the curfew from 6 pm until 6 am covered the waters of Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran.
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Source: https://www.theborneopost.com
MANILA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) — Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen have abducted a Filipino doctor in the remote Jolo town in Sulu Province in the southern Philippines, the military said on Wednesday.
Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command, said the kidnapping of the victim, Daniel Moreno, brings to six the number of hostages being kept by the kidnap-for-ransom group.
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Source: http://www.china.org.cn
SINGAPORE – The Maritime Security Task Force (MSTF) plans to restructure to deal with piracy at sea, including beefing up its assets, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Monday (Feb 3).
“That review is expected to be complete in the next few months,” he said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC).
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Source: straitstimes.com
Responding to questions in Parliament, Singapore’s Minister for Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen has indicated that the pirates responsible for recent incidents in the Singapore Strait are not from Singapore.
Ng says the number of piracy and sea robbery incidents occurring in the Singapore Strait fluctuates considerably from year to year. For example in 2014, 2015 and 2019 there were 48, 104 and 31 such incidents. But in the remaining years over the last decade, the average was around 12.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
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