Pirates Target Japanese Bulker off Singapore
Handysize targeted by knife-wielding robbers in eastbound lane of the Straits of Malacca.
According to MANA, Japanese handysize bulker was targeted by pirates while transiting the Straits of Malacca and Singapore on Monday.
While underway, the crew of the 33,200-dwt Star lily (built 2008) sighted four perpetrators armed with machetes, boarding the vessel from a small craft.
The alarm was raised, accommodation area secured and anti-piracy measures activated on board. The perpetrators later escaped emptyhanded. No crewmembers were injured.
Reports of piracy or robbery in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore have become very infrequent, but do still take place.
In the early hours of 4 May a Navios Group-owned VLCC – the 247,491-dwt Nave Buena Suerte (built 2011) – was targeted by pirates.
However, the robbers later escaped empty handed from the Hong Kong-flagged ship. There were no reports of an injuries to the ship