A total of 16 incidents of armed robbery against ships (ARAS) were reported in Asia during January- March 2026, which marks a 64% decrease in the number of incidents compared to the same period in 2025 (44 incidents). However, there has been an increase in the number of incidents in the Philippines. The decrease of incidents occurred in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS),
Indonesia, India and South China Sea. No piracy incident was reported in Asia during January- March 2026.
A total of six incidents were reported at the ports/anchorages in the Philippines in January and February 2026. With the law enforcement efforts of the authorities of Philippines in responding to the reports of the incidents, two arrests of perpetrators were made. No incident was reported in March 2026. More details of the arrest can be found in Part E of this report.
The situation in the SOMS has seen significant improvement, with 10 incidents reported during January-March 2026 compared to 36 incidents during the same period in 2025. Notably, the number of incidents in SOMS declined significantly since September 2025 after several arrests of perpetrators were made by the Indonesian authorities in July and August 2025. This demonstrated that the arrests send a strong deterrent message to would-be perpetrators.
While there has been a decrease of incidents in SOMS since the second half of 2025, the continued occurrence of incidents during January-March 2026 was of concern and indicates the presence of other groups of perpetrators operating in the area. Three incidents of sea robbery were reported while ships transited the Phillip Channel, in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait (SS) on 18 March and 19 March 2026. In response, the Centre on 19 March 2026 issued an Incident Alert to the maritime community to warn them about the possibility of further incidents.
No incident of abduction of crew for ransom in the Sulu Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah was reported during January-March 2026. The last incident occurred in January 2020, making 2026 the sixth consecutive year that the region is incident-free for crew abduction. In January 2025, the threat level was downgraded to ‘LOW’ meaning ‘No information or monitored activities suggest an impending attack; hence incidents are not expected to occur’.
However, the threat of abduction of crew for ransom remains due to the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the Sulu and Tawi Tawi area. Ships are advised to stay vigilant when transiting the Sulu-Celebes Seas, and report incidents to the Operation Centres of the Philippines and Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), and maintain communication with the relevant authorities when transiting the area.
Source: ReCAAP
