Piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore reached a 19-year record in 2025, with regional watchdog ReCAAP logging 108 incidents in the waterway — a 74% jump from 62 a year earlier — as low-level armed crews targeted slow-moving tankers and container ships for spare parts, cargo and crew valuables. The strait alone accounted for roughly 80 of the 137 piracy incidents recorded worldwide in 2025.
A regional law-enforcement crackdown brought incident numbers down through the second half of 2025, but hijacking attempts resumed in late 2025 and early 2026 in waters that had enjoyed a relative lull for years, underscoring how quickly the threat can rebound in one of the world’s busiest and most geographically constrained shipping lanes.
Source: TradeWinds
