The Piracy and Sea Robbery Conference 2016 led by the ReCAAP ISC was held on14 Jul 16 in Bangkok, Thailand with the theme of ‘A Safer Sea: Addressing Challenges Together’. Some 120 participants from a wide variety of fields and many regions attended the conference. The aim of this Conference was to provide a platform for sharing of views, best practices, lessons learned and challenges among the ReCAAP ISC, local and regional shipping associations, shipping companies, enforcement agencies, international organisations and academia. Amongst the topics discussed were: situation of piracy and sea robbery in Asia, the Regional Guides produced by the ReCAAP ISC, incidents involving abduction of crew off East Sabah and Southern Philippines, cooperation and collaboration between enforcement agencies and shipping industry, and model of inter-agencies cooperation and collaboration in information sharing and operational coordination. Speakers on the topics from Enforcement Agencies were Royal Thai Navy, Indonesian BAKAMLA, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Philippine Coast Guard and the Information Fusion Centre (IFC). From the Shipping Industry were representatives from the Thailand Shipowners’ Association, PTT Public Company Limited, Federation of ASEAN Shipowners’ Associations / Singapore Shipping Association (FASA/ SSA), Indonesia National Shipowners Association (INSA) and Sarawak and Sabah Shipowners Association (SSSA).
