Piracy cases have surged again this year in the Singapore Strait, the key waterway south of the Republic despite the pandemic. Couple reduced enforcement with greater poverty in fishing communities as lockdowns hit fish transportation and demand, and it is not hard to see why more have turned to crime, said Professor of Security Studies Dr Rohan Gunaratna of the RSIS. Opportunistic attacks have also risen given the ongoing crew change crisis, where ship crew face difficulty rotating home owing to countries’ Covid-19 restrictions.