Shipping News | Jolly Roger

I counted 204 ships from my 62nd floor perch yesterday.

Gazing at ships is how I spend a fair amount of time during these days of quarantine. Sometimes I grab my binoculars to identify the different types.

Bulk carriers are merchant ships that transport unpacked bulk cargo, such as grain, ore, and cement. Tankers carry liquid cargo, such as oil. Container ships carry 20′ and 40′ containers that can be transferred to trucks and trains. I also watch the comings and goings of the Dream Cruise that takes passengers for two or three nights of “let’s forget there’s a pandemic” bliss around the island.

According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, every two to three minutes a ship arrives or leaves Singapore. More than 130,000 vessels call at Singapore annually. At any one time, there are 1,000+ ships loading, unloading, or refueling here. Of the top ten busiest maritime ports, Singapore ranks second after Shanghai. Although Singapore does not produce any oil, it is the top bunkering (ship refueling) port in the world. The Malacca Strait, a 900km (550 mile) sea lane between Sumatra, Indonesia and Malaysia, is the premier passageway for East-West trade. More than 80% of the world’s trade is conducted by sea. Bottom line: seaborne trade is an important lifeline for Singapore.

With all these ships plying the waters, naturally there is the threat of piracy. While this conjures up swashbucklers a la Pirates of the Caribbean waving the Jolly Roger, pirates these days are more like those depicted in Captain Phillips. (Terms: piracy is when attacks occur in international waters. Armed robbery occurs within a country’s territorial waters.) Piracy cases in the Singapore Strait, the 16 km (9 mile) channel between Singapore and the Riau Islands of Indonesia, hit a five-year high of 34 incidents in 2020. Apparently, there are thousands of islets for would-be attackers to lurk and escape. Rather than seeking huge ransoms or taking cargo, these small timers’ booty consists of items from the ship’s stores, engine parts, and crew members’ cash and personal property.

As one might imagine, there is a massive coordinated global and regional effort working to prevent and report these attacks. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore work together to patrol our local waterways by air and sea. Check out the International Maritime Bureau live map that monitors piracy and robbery activities around the world. When I clicked on it just now, I see an incident on January 3 in eastern Kalimantan, Indonesia: “Three robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored bulk carrier. Duty crew spotted the robbers near the forecastle store escaping with ship’s stores. Incident reported to local authorities.” I could easily get addicted to this site.

I did have a brush with a presumed pirate once. It was during college when I made a summer trip to visit my folks in Lagos, Nigeria. I frequently headed to Bar Beach for an afternoon of lazy relaxing. Bar Beach was pleasant enough, but swimming was out of the question. The waves were gigantic and the undertow lethal. Most of the time I hung out on a rented beach chair at a row of thatched roof shacks.

One day as I was walking along the beach, I noticed a big blob up ahead on the sand. As I got closer, I realized it was a human body. A man, clothed and on his back, knees bent and arms stretched to the sky as if doing a crunch, face bloated, flies buzzing around. Now here’s the thing about about being a Westerner in Lagos: it seems lawless. You come to expect that anything can happen. Still, I was shocked.

I hurried back to the safety of my beach chair and shared what I had seen with the proprietor of this particular stall. I thought someone should report this. He just shrugged and said, “Pirate.” Meaning this was an unlucky bloke that had been caught and thrown overboard, only to wash ashore and settle smack dab in the middle of my walking path. Reporting the incident? Not a chance. Because that meant getting involved and answering questions, and who knew where that slippery slope would lead.

So l left it at that, kept a tight perimeter from then on, and lodged the memory forever in my mind. Chalk that one up for the wackadoodle tales to tell the grandchildren.

Tomorrow I have my COVID test. Assuming it’s negative, I will be checking out the following day. No more brilliant Marina Bay views, but I will keep these pictures forever in my mind.

Recommendation when in Singapore:

Visit the Jolly Roger! A friend of Tom’s owns this fun pub in the Hillview neighborhood. It’s a great place to satisfy pub food cravings, have a pint or two, and shoot pool.

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