The decision to increase maritime security in the area comes after The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) urged the littoral states to increase surveillance for the area following heightened reports of piracy for 2015.
Since 2013 the number of total attacks against ships has increased significantly from 29 incidents to 38 over the same period. The increase is largely due to heightened onboard attacks in the Straits of Malacca and attacks at ports and anchorages in Vietnam. ReCAAP is particularly concerned with the escalation of "very significant" incidents such as the recent fuel siphoning situations. A February 14 incident aboard the product tanker Lapin involved the siphoning of 2,000 tons of bunker oil as well as an explosive package, which was later determined to be fake.
