ReCAAP Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, 3rd Quarter report 2025

(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) has officially published its 3rd Quarterly Report for 2025, which covers the nine-month period from January to September.

This report provides a crucial overview and analysis of the piracy and armed robbery incidents against ships in Asia during this timeframe. Maritime stakeholders, government agencies, and the shipping industry often rely on ReCAAP ISC's quarterly publications for timely, accurate data and insights on the evolving threats in the region's waters. The data presented helps in assessing risk, informing security measures, and coordinating regional responses to enhance maritime safety and security.

For the overall situation of Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships2 (ARAS), commonly known as sea robbery in Asia during January-September 2025, there has been a 68% increase in the number of incidents compared to January-September 2024.

A total of 119 incidents of Piracy and ARAS was reported during January-September 2025 compared to 71 incidents during the same period in 2024.

Of the 119 incidents, two were piracy incidents and 117 were sea robberies. Among these incidents, 114 were actual incidents3 and five were attempted incidents. The majority of the sea robberies incidents were petty theft involving perpetrators not carrying any weapons, crew not injured (CAT 4 incidents), and this accounts for 53% (60 incidents) of the total incidents during January-September 2025.

Notably, there was a sharp decline in the number of incidents in the third quarter of 2025 post arrest of the perpetrators in July by the Indonesian authorities. Improvement of the situation occurred in Bangladesh and Indonesia.

However, there was an increase in the number of incidents in India, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), South China Sea and Vietnam during January-September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

Of concern was the continual occurrence of incidents in SOMS during January-July 2025. With the arrest of at least two syndicates in July 2025, the number of incidents has declined significantly since August 2025.

The Centre commends the prompt responses of the law enforcement agencies, timely reporting of incidents by ship master and keen sharing of information among all stakeholders. To address transnational crimes like piracy and sea robbery, a multi-pronged approach and commitment from all parties, at sea and ashore is critical and essential.

In the Sulu-Celebes seas, there had been no incident of abduction of crew for ransom reported during January-September 2025. The last abduction of crew incident occurred in January 2020. The threat of abduction of crew in this region has been downgraded to “LOW”.

However, the ReCAAP ISC advises ships to exercise vigilance and adopt the necessary preventive measures when transiting the area. They are to maintain communication with the authorities and to report all incidents to the Operations Centres of the Philippines and Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM).