Piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore rose to their highest level in 19 years in 2025, highlighting persistent security challenges along one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors, according to ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre.
The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre said 108 incidents were reported in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore in 2025, comprising 104 actual cases and four attempted, a 74% increase from 62 incidents in 2024. It described the 2025 figure as the highest recorded in the straits over the 2007–2025 period.
Across Asia, ReCAAP recorded 132 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2025, up 23% from 107 in 2024. Of the total, 127 were actual incidents and five were attempted, the organisation said.
In the Malacca-Singapore waterways, incidents were “mostly opportunistic theft” occurring during hours of darkness between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., and “in the majority of incidents, the crew was not injured,” ReCAAP said. In about half of the reported incidents in the straits, nothing was stolen; where theft was reported, items included engine spares, scrap metal, ship stores and crew belongings.
ReCAAP’s annual report showed the rise was heavily concentrated in the Singapore Strait, which accounted for 107 of the 108 incidents in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore in 2025, with one incident recorded in the Malacca Strait.
The organisation added that around 87% of the straits incidents occurred between January and July 2025, followed by a “significant decline” from August to December after arrests in July and August.
ReCAAP ISC is an information-sharing and analysis hub established under the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, a government-to-government framework aimed at strengthening cooperation against piracy and sea robbery in Asia. The agreement was formalised on Nov. 11, 2004, entered into force on Sept. 4, 2006, and the Information Sharing Centre was established on Nov. 29, 2006.
