A concerted effort by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to tackle piracy and robberies in nearby waters saw the number of incidents nosedive in the first six months of the year.

The countries pumped more resources into patrol activities, and one even zeroed in on prime suspects and issued them with stiff warnings.

Their activities cut the number of such incidents in the Strait of Singapore and Strait of Malacca to just one in the first six months .

This was after a spike last year, with the number hitting 104, up from 48 in 2014, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre.

The Malaysian and Indonesian authorities have improved their capabilities to address such incidents, noted Dr Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ (RSIS) Maritime Security Programme.

… Stern warnings to suspects in Indonesian islands were also a major factor for the improvement, noted Dr Sam Bateman, an adviser to RSIS’ Maritime Security Programme.