Seatrade maritime Indonesian police arrest Singapore Strait pirate group

According to local reports in Batam Island, Indonesia, Directorate of Water and Air Police (Polairud) in Riau Islands, detained a pirate syndicate that had been robbing ships in the Singapore Strait.

The police apprehended eight suspects that had boarded a tanker in the Philip’s Channel on 14 July. The name of vessel reported as Thom Elisabeth does not appear in shipping databases such as Equasis. Three more suspects were reported to have arrested shortly afterwards.

The group was reported to have been active in robbing ships in the Singapore Strait since 2017 and they focused on vessels slowing down to around 5 knots as they made a turn in the Philipps Channel and Pulau Nipah.

Vessels were boarded at night with the aim of stealing spare parts and valuables which could be sold in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Profits were reported to range from around $2,300 to $6,200 for a successful robbery.

Robberies in the Singapore Strait are at over a decade high with 90 incidents reported up to the end of the first week of July.

A longstanding problem in the busy shipping lane in the past peaks in activity have been kept in check by enforcements and arrests from the Indonesian authorities. Observers noted it had been a long time since such arrests were made.