Members of the Malaysian Marine Police amphibious assault unit storm the Japanese Coast Guard ship Yashima during a joint anti-piracy exercise off the western Thailand coast near the Tarutao Islands on February 2, 2007.  (TENGKU BAHAR / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asian waters in the first half of 2020 shot up to its highest level in five years and nearly double the number recorded in the same period a year earlier.

A total 51 incidents were reported in the region in the January to June period, 50 of which were actual and one was an attempt, according to data from ReCAAP ISC, a piracy information group

A total of 51 incidents were reported in the region in the January to June period, 50 of which were actual and one was an attempt, according to data from ReCAAP ISC, a piracy information group with 20 member nations, mostly in Asia.

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That compared with 28 incidents reported in the same period a year earlier and is the highest tally since 114 recorded in the first six months of 2015, the data showed.

Incidents have surged in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, where cases have doubled from a year ago to 16 incidents.

The narrow passageway is one of the world’s busiest commercial maritime routes, and is policed by a number of Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Other incidents occurred in the South China Sea, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Vietnam.

A large number of cases took place in Indonesian territorial waters in the Straits, said Ridzwan Rahmat, the principal defense analyst at defense publication Janes.

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While economic activity slowed during the pandemic, piracy went up globally. There were 98 incidents in the first six months of this year, an increase of 26 percent from the same stretch in 2019, according to a report from the International Maritime Bureau. The number of kidnapping incidents globally has risen to 54, the highest number since at least 2016.

Asia had one incident of kidnapping this year, said ReCAAP. Off Malaysia’s Sabah province, Abu Sayaf militants abducted eight seafarers from a fishing trawler in January. While Malaysian authorities rescued three of them, five crew members are still captive.

Philippine forces engaged in a violent shoot-out with the group on June 22, resulting in the death of an army lieutenant and an unknown number of militants.

Globally, “there is a strong connection between piracy and unstable governments, which provides opportunities for pirates to carry out attacks where the state is not strong enough to properly police its coastal waters,” according to a July 15 website note from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty.

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