The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB)’s quarterly piracy and armed robbery report shows a nearly flat top-line number for maritime piracy incidents, with 37 recorded in the first three months of 2022 compared to 38 incidents over the same period last year.

The Gulf of Guinea, which accounted for nearly half (43 percent) of all reported piracy incidents in the first three months of 2021, recorded a significant decline in maritime piracy.

“Sustained efforts are however needed to ensure the continued safety of seafarers in the West African region that remains dangerous as evidenced by the hijack of a product tanker off the coast of Ivory Coast on 24 January, during which all 17 crew were taken hostage.

IMB believes that concerted and sustained efforts to eliminate piracy in the volatile waters of the Gulf of Guinea are bearing fruits, with no reported crew kidnappings during the quarter compared to 40 crew kidnappings in the same period in 2021.

Threat to seafarers remains and is best exemplified by the recent attack on the Panamax bulk carrier Arch Gabriel, which was boarded by pirates 260 NM off the coast of Ghana on April 3.

Worldwide, this was the first quarter since 2010 where no crew kidnappings were reported, although violence against and threats to crews continued.

The Singapore Straits has become a dangerous sea route for commercial shipping, accounting for almost 30 percent of all incidents during the period.

“Perpetrators are armed in most incidents, putting crews at risk even in the low-level opportunistic incidents.

Outside the Singapore Straits, four incidents were reported off the coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia, compared to two over the same period in 2021.

According to IMB, Peruvian waters are an area of concern. The South American nation’s ports accounted for 27 percent of global incidents, with 10 reported events.

Three incidents were also reported in Macapa anchorage off the coast of Brazil. In two of the incidents, seafarers were either threatened or taken hostage, threatened with knives, tied up with their faces covered with burlap for the duration of the incident.

Although no incidents were reported in the Gulf of Aden, the threat of piracy still exists in the waters off the southern Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, including the Yemeni and Somali coasts.