Piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asian waters rose sharply in the first half of 2025, with 95 incidents logged between January and June, an 83 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre. The Straits of Malacca and Singapore accounted for 80 of the cases, up from 21 in the first six months of 2024, underscoring growing security concerns along one of the world’s busiest maritime choke-points. About half of the attacks targeted bulk carriers and a quarter involved tankers, with nine in ten incidents occurring after dark. Most encounters were low-level: no crew injuries were reported in 90 percent of cases and, in half the boardings, nothing was stolen. When theft occurred, perpetrators mainly took engine spare parts, reflecting what ReCAAP described as crimes driven by economic hardship. ReCAAP Executive Director Vijay D. Chafekar urged regional authorities to step up patrols in known trouble spots and advised shipmasters transiting the straits to increase night-time watchkeeping and install additional deterrents.