Pirates Board Chemical Tanker off Malaysia

zoom A chemical tanker was boarded by pirates on Thursday, October 1st while en route some 1.5 nautical miles north-northeast off Sandakan, Malaysia, the International Maritime Bureaus ICC informed. Two robbers boarded a tanker via the anchor chain. Alert crew spotted the robbers and raised the alarm, resulting in the robbers abandoning the collected stolen items and escaping, ICC said. The name of the ship was not disclosed. There have been no reports of the injuries to the crew. A total of 24 incidents of armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia in August 2015. Of these, 22 were actual incidents and two were attempted incidents. No piracy incident was reported in August 2015, according to the monthly figures provided by piracy watchdog ReCAAP. The number of incidents rebounds in August 2015 after a decline of 54% from 24 incidents in June 2015 to 11 in July 2015. Overall, a total of 141 incidents had been reported over the past eight months (January-August 2015) in the region, ReCAAP said, accounting for an increase of 18% compared to the same period in 2014. World Maritime News Staff