A total of 119 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships (ARAS) were reported in Asia during January-September 2025, according to ReCAAP ISC’s 3rd quarterly report of 2025 (January to September).

Of these, two were incidents of piracy and 117 were sea robberies. This marks a 68% increase in the total number of incidents compared to the number of incidents reported during January-September 2024 (71 incidents). Of the 119 incidents, 114 were actual incidents and five were attempted incidents.

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC), known as the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP), said the majority of the sea robberies incidents were petty theft involving perpetrators not carrying any weapons, crew not injured (CAT 4 incidents), and this accounts for 53% (60 incidents) of the total incidents during January-September 2025.

Notably, there was a sharp decline in the number of incidents in the third quarter of 2025 post arrest of the perpetrators in July by the Indonesian authorities.

Improvement of the situation occurred in Bangladesh and Indonesia. However, there was an increase in the number of incidents in India, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), South China Sea and Vietnam during January-September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

Of concern was the continual occurrence of incidents in SOMS during January-July 2025. With the arrest of at least two syndicates in July 2025, the number of incidents has declined significantly since August 2025.

In the Sulu-Celebes seas, there had been no incident of abduction of crew for ransom reported during January-September 2025. The last abduction of crew incident occurred in January 2020. The threat of abduction of crew in this region has been downgraded to “LOW.” However, the ReCAAP ISC advises ships to exercise vigilance and adopt the necessary preventive measures when transiting the area. They are to maintain communication with the authorities and to report all incidents to the Operations Centres of the Philippines and Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM).

Incidents of January-September 2025 versus January-September 2024

Overall, there was an increase in the number of incidents reported during January–September 2025 compared to the same period last year, especially in India (three incidents were reported compared to two), the South China Sea (two incidents compared to one), the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) (97 incidents compared to 35), and Vietnam (two incidents compared to one).

On the contrary, a decrease was observed in Bangladesh, where four incidents were reported compared to 11, and in Indonesia (excluding SOMS), with eight incidents compared to 18.

The number of incidents reported had remained consistent in Malaysia (excluding SOMS), with one incident reported for both reporting periods, while in the Philippines, no incidents were reported compared to two in 2024.

Area of concern

The situation in SOMS showed marked improvement in Q3 2025 (July-September) compared to Q1 2025 (January-March) and Q2 2025 (April-June). A total of 36 incidents were reported in Q1, 44 incidents in Q2 and 17 incidents in Q3.

Despite the improvement of the situation in SOMS in Q3, the overall number of incidents occurred during January-September 2025 (97 incidents) in SOMS is a substantial increase compared to the same period in 2024, when only 35 incidents were reported. The situation in SOMS remains a key area of concern in 2025.