14 January 2014

MR TAN SUAN JOW, DIRECTOR, SHIPPING DIVISION
MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
REMARKS AT THE NAUTICAL FORUM 5/14
14 JANUARY 2014, STI AUDITORIUM

Mr Yoshihisa Endo, Executive Director, ReCAAP ISC,
Mr Daniel Tan, Executive Director, Singapore Shipping Association,
Captain George Solomon, Asian Shipowners' Forum,
First Admiral Haji Adon, Southern Maritime Region, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Afternoon.

It is heartening to see many of our fellow shipping and maritime colleagues present here in the audience today. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to Mr Endo and Ms Lee for their comments and analysis on piracy and robbery against ships in Asia for 2013. I believe that the members of the audience would be able to find useful points to take back from their comments.

The ReCAAP ISC is entering into its 8th year, and it continues to play an important role in keeping the region safe and secure through timely dissemination of information on piracy and sea robbery incidents in the region, and by providing you, the industry, with useful analyses at forums like this. I am glad to note an overall decline in the severity of piracy and sea robbery incidents in Asia for 2013. Further, the majority of reported piracy and sea robbery attacks that took place in 2013 were either petty thefts or incidents that fell under ReCAAP ISC's categorization of 'low severity'.While these are welcome trends, we should not allow these statistics to lull us into complacency - because, while the trend and severity has dropped, the success rate of piracy and sea robbery attacks has increased over the last 5 years, from 80% in 2009 to 94% in 2013.

I would like to pull out one statistic from the analyses - and that is that of oil siphoning incidents. Reports of oil siphoning first appeared in our region in 2011, and these incidents continued to occur last year. There were 3 reported cases of oil siphoning in 2013, but we would not want this number to creep up. Over 60,000 vessels transit the Straits of Malacca and Singapore each year, carrying one-third of the world's trade. On any given day, 15 million barrels of oil, or 80% of the oil transported to Northeast Asia, pass through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.(1) In 2005, the Malacca Straits was designated a "war risk" area following a threat assessment by an independent security consultancy, Aegis Defence Services, which reached this conclusion on aggregation of all the security threats in the Straits then.(2) The designation was removed in August 2006 when the littoral states stepped up their efforts to patrol the Straits and remove some of the threats. We do not want to allow the upward creep of various security incidents to lead into a situation where the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, or the region, starts attracting negative designations. Hence, I echo ReCAAP ISC's advice for the industry to enhance vigilance and watch-keeping while at ports and anchorages, and while underway in the busy Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

We all know that the fight against piracy and sea robbery is a shared responsibility, and to win this fight, all actors have to play their part. There must be firm co-operation between all stakeholders. ReCAAP ISC's success is premised on not just actions by the authorities of the littoral states, but also on the active participation of the industry. I strongly urge the industry to continue to provide timely and, as much as possible, accurate information to the ReCAAP ISC. Useful details such as vessel positions, some details of the pirates or robbers, help with the fight against piracy and sea robbery. When a report is made in a timely manner, ReCAAP ISC can, in turn, quickly alert surrounding vessels, and also alert enforcement agencies to respond. Let me cite you an instance where timely reporting could have made a difference. This is the oil siphoning incident involving DANAI 4 on 10 October 2013. The incident was reported to ReCAAP ISC on 13 October 2013, four days after the owner lost contact with the vessel. The time taken to establish that an incident had occurred, and then reporting the incident to ReCAAP ISC, allowed the pirates time to sail the tanker away to another location to siphon off the oil. The time lapse in reporting would also have made it more challenging for the maritime authorities to locate the missing tanker. I cannot stress enough the value of timely reporting, coordination and cooperation. Even better, if the reports can contain as many useful details as possible, the ReCAAP ISC can produce more comprehensive analyses which, in turn, can help governments to tackle the root causes of piracy and sea robbery.

In the context of coordinated efforts, I extend our thanks to the regional maritime security agencies for putting out and maintaining their sea patrols. These patrols complement and reinforce the ReCAAP ISC's information-dissemination and information-sharing role. Singapore has worked closely with our neighbouring countries to coordinate efforts to deter and prevent piracy and sea robbery. This includes the Malacca Strait Patrol initiative, known as MSP, comprising the Malacca Strait Sea Patrol and an aerial surveillance component known as "Eyes in the Sky". The formation of an MSP Intelligence Exchange Group has also supported information sharing for air and sea patrols, further enhancing the effectiveness of trilateral coordinated patrols.

All of these activities and efforts - patrols, good and timely reporting, quick alerts out - have meshed together to steadily reduce the number of incidents in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore since 2011.

In addition, I hope that it is also useful for the industry to occasionally take stock or be updated of trends. To this end, we have ReCAAP ISC events where subject matter experts are present for industry to hold immediate dialogue with. The upcoming ReCAAP ISC Piracy and Sea Robbery Conference in April 2014 provides a good opportunity to obtain regional situational updates, and to gain a better understanding of the challenges involved in combating piracy and sea robbery.

Tug boats and barges have been targets of attacks in recent years due to their low freeboards and slow speeds, and we continued to see sporadic attacks on tug boats and barges in 2013. Through close cooperation with the industry, ReCAAP ISC has developed the Tugboats and Barges Guide, and I strongly encourage tugboat owners to take use the Guide. The Guide lists measures that owners can implement.

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that sustained good cooperation and coordination between all stakeholders - the shipping industry, the government authorities, the ReCAAP ISC - will continue to make a difference in the fight against piracy and sea robbery in Asia. On our part, MPA will continue to expend all efforts to address the issue of piracy and sea robbery in Asia, and will render assistance to the industry in whatever way possible. It is our joint goal, with the industry, to see that our collective efforts will contribute to having safe, open and secure shipping lanes for all legitimate commercial trade.

Thank you once again to the ReCAAP ISC for its commendable efforts, and to the audience for participating in this year's Nautical Forum. I wish everyone here today a fruitful session. Thank you.

(1) World Oil Transit Chokepoints. US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 6 January 2014, fromhttp://www.eia.gov/countries/regions-topics.cfm?fips=wotc&trk=p3.

(2) Market removes Malacca Straits from the list. Lloyd's. Retrieved 6 January 2014, fromhttp://www.lloyds.com/news-and-insight/news-and-features/archive/2006/08/market_removes_malacca_straits_from_the_list.