An attempted robbery has been reported aboard a Tanker while anchored at Belawan Anchorage, Indonesia. Two robbers were spotted by the duty crew, boarding the vessel via the anchor chain and breaking into the paint store. The alarm was raised, resulting in the perpetrators escaping empty handed.
This is the fourth reported incident this year occurring within an Indonesian anchorage, but the the sixteenth to occur within the vicinity of the Singapore & Malacca Straits. Several similar incidents were reported last year in and around Indonesian ports; robberies, or attempted robberies, of vessels at anchor or berthed, with up to five persons boarding unnoticed before being spotted by duty crew and escaping with ships' properties. Only one incident was unsuccessful, with the robbers escaping without stolen property. In most cases, the robbers were armed with knives or makeshift weapons, and found in or near the vessels' engine room.
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