The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre (ISC) has issued a warning to Ships in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and eastern Sabah region.
According to the Incident Alert, since March 2016 there have been nine actual and two attempted incidents of abduction of crew from ships in the Sulu-Celebes Sea and eastern Sabah region. Most of the incidents were claimed by the Philippines terrorist group Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
ReCAAP ISC said that the effective activation of anti-piracy measures successfully prevented boarding by the perpetrators in the latest attempted incidents.
However, ReCAAP ISC advises all ships to re-route from the area where possible, and otherwise strongly urges ship masters and crew to exercise extra vigilance there and to report immediately to relevant organizations on transiting it.
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