Hazards in the water

Piracy and armed robbery

Also written: armed robbery against ships

Attacks and attempted boardings of ships, and suspicious approaches by small craft.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, piracy is an attack for private ends on the high seas; the same act inside a country's territorial waters is armed robbery against ships. Warnings and advisories report the incident, the position and the kind of craft involved, and ask ships to report anything similar.

Reports come from the navies and centres that monitor these areas — the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, ReCAAP in Asia, UKMTO and MDAT-GoG among them. A warning records one reported incident; patterns in the archive are patterns in reporting.

What the archive shows

1,618 messages in this archive use “Piracy and armed robbery”, the earliest issued 1981-04-11 and the latest 2026-09-17. 1 of them is in force in the latest lists we collected. A hazard reported again and again counts once per message.

The largest yearly count is 2010, with 441 messages. Collection is incomplete between 2024-05 and 2026-08-17, so 2024, 2025 and 2026 are not comparable with fully collected years.

Piracy accounts for 1,517 of 1,618 recorded messages (94%), the largest warning type group in this selection.

Located messages that use it fall in 32 sea areas; the most frequent are Arabian Sea (363), Indian Ocean (338) and Gulf of Guinea (175).

Messages that use it are issued most often in March (203 across all years) and least often in July (76).

By warning series: HYDROPAC 1,316, HYDROLANT 238, NAVAREA IV 26 and NAVAREA XII 23, and 4 more.

Messages using it, by year of issue

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By month of issue, all years

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Where it appears · 32 sea areas

In force now · 1

NAVAREA XI 414/26 · Piracy · South China Sea2026-09-17 · in force
SINGAPORE STRAIT. ARMED ROBBERY INFORMATION. 162046Z SEP. 01-07.09N 103-31.06E. ACCORDING TO INFORMATION, UNNOTICED…
Armed robbery information →

How it reads in recent messages

HYDROPAC 2684/26 · Piracy · South China Sea2026-09-17
SOUTH CHINA SEA. INDONESIA. 1. VESSEL BOARDED BY FOUR ARMED PIRATES IN 01-07.09N 103-31.06E AT 162046Z SEP. VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS…
Vessel boarded by four armed pirates in 01-07.09N 103-31.06E at 162046Z sep →
HYDROPAC 2394/26 · Piracy · Arabian Sea2026-08-20
ARABIAN SEA. YEMEN. 1. M/V HIJACKED IN 14-32.00N 051-28.50E BY SIX PIRATES. VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS POSITION AND TO EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION. 2.…
M/V hijacked in 14-32.00N 051-28.50E by six pirates →
HYDROPAC 125/26 · Piracy · Singapore Strait2026-01-16
SINGAPORE STRAIT. INDONESIA. DNC 03. 1. VESSEL BOARDED BY PIRATES IN 01-15.38N 104-06.11E AT 160539Z JAN. VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS…
Vessel boarded by pirates in 01-15.38N 104-06.11E at 160539Z jan →
HYDROPAC 1550/25 · Piracy · South China Sea2025-06-14
SOUTH CHINA SEA. INDONESIA. DNC 03. 1. M/V BOARDED BY SIX PIRATES IN 01-03.13N 103-37.40E AT 141643Z JUN. VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS…
M/V boarded by six pirates in 01-03.13N 103-37.40E at 141643Z jun →
HYDROPAC 1545/25 · Piracy · South China Sea2025-06-13
SOUTH CHINA SEA. INDONESIA. DNC 03. 1. M/V BOARDED BY PIRATES IN 01-05.00N 103-42.40E AT 131500Z JUN. VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS…
M/V boarded by pirates in 01-05.00N 103-42.40E at 131500Z jun →
HYDROPAC 1544/25 · Piracy · Singapore Strait2025-06-13
SOUTH CHINA SEA. INDONESIA. DNC 03. 1. M/V BOARDED BY PIRATES IN 01-06.50N 103-44.10E AT 131500Z JUN. VESSELS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS…
M/V boarded by pirates in 01-06.50N 103-44.10E at 131500Z jun →
HYDROPAC 1563/24 · Piracy · Gulf of Aden2024-05-10
…ADVISED TO KEEP CLEAR OF THIS POSITION AND TO EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION. REPORTS TO IMB PIRACY REPORTING CENTER, PHONE: 603 2031 0014, 603 2078 5763, E-MAIL: IMBKL@ICC-CCS.ORG,…
M/V attacked in 12-38.65N 048-24.06E at 100457Z may →

Earliest in the archive

NAVAREA IV 846/81 · Piracy1981-04-10
1. MARINERS ARE ADVISED TO BE ALERT TO UNUSUAL, ABNORMAL OR HOSTILE ACTIVITIES BY PIRATES (ESPECIALLY DURING DARKENED HOURS) IN THE APPROACHES TO AND IN BUENAVENTURA…
Mariners are advised to be alert to unusual, abnormal or hostile activities by pirates (especially during… →

Often in the same message

Related terms

Safety zone / exclusion zone: An area ships must stay out of, or may only enter with permission, for safety or security.
GNSS / GPS: Satellite positioning — GPS and other systems — and the testing, jamming and interference that make it unreliable in an area.
AIS (Automatic Identification System): The radio transponder system that broadcasts a ship's identity, position, course and speed — and can mark a hazard with a virtual beacon.

Warning types that use it

Piracy — Vessels attacked or boarded, suspicious approaches, pirate action groups — Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Guinea, Malacca and Singapore Straits, South China Sea.
War risk — Hostilities, blockades, anti-ship missile and drone threats to merchant shipping: the advisories behind the Red Sea, Black Sea and Gulf of Aden risk areas.

Counts cover the messages in this archive that use the term, recounted 2026-09-24; see coverage for what is collected and since when. Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA and coastal broadcasts.