The annual ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) Piracy and Sea Robbery Conference 2018 was held today for the first time in Hong Kong, China, to reach out to the shipping community in China and beyond.

Speakers and co-organisers BIMCO and INTERTANKO join a panel discussion moderated by Ms. Jane Chan from the S. Rajartnam School of International Studies in Singapore
Speakers and co-organisers BIMCO and INTERTANKO join a panel discussion moderated by Jane Chan from the S. Rajartnam School of International Studies in Singapore

ReCAAP ISC and co-organisers BIMCO and INTERTANKO, with the support of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, developed this year’s conference, themed “Counter Piracy: Proactive Response” to underscore the importance of staying vigilant and not taking for granted the success that Asia had achieved in reducing the number of piracy and sea robbery incidents over the past decade.
Taking stock of the current situation in Asia and sharing the situation of piracy and sea robbery in other parts of the world including the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Guinea, the Conference features speakers from the Philippine Coast Guard, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Indonesia’s BAKAMLA, EU NAVFOR (Horn of Africa), MDAT-GoG (Gulf of Guinea), ReCAAP ISC, and the shipping industry.  Together, these speakers addressed the issues and situations across Asia, the Horn of Africa, and the Gulf of Guinea.
“This year’s ReCAAP ISC Piracy and Sea Robbery Conference addresses developing situations in the Sulu-Celebes Seas, the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, as well as pertinent topics such as oil cargo theft and the situation of armed robbery against ships in Indonesia.  In bringing the Conference to Hong Kong, we hope to engage the shipping community in China and foster a dialogue between the shipping industry and regional authorities, for the welfare of seafarers and the safety of sea lanes,” said Masafumi Kuroki, Executive Director of ReCAAP ISC.
“Piracy and armed robbery at sea remains a major concern to our seafarers and therefore the shipping industry. In order to keep up with the ever-developing threat, we need to continuously improve our cooperation, processes and procedures. The key to our success includes that anti-piracy lessons learnt from across the globe are shared. By doing this, measures which have proven successful in reducing piracy and armed robbery at sea in one region can be recognised, developed and adapted to other regions. This conference is exactly the right platform to share knowledge and work together to reduce piracy and armed robbery at sea,” said Jakob Paaske Larsen, Head of Security for BIMCO.
“Piracy and armed robbery around the globe takes many forms and is proving very hard to eradicate. By looking at what works we can see that the Asian model of a coordinated response, backed by proper intelligence, provides a good template for how to deal with this scourge. Those hard won lessons are now being applied to the new threats that the shipping industry is facing off Yemen,” said Dr. Phillip Belcher, INTERTANKO’s Marine Director.