Apo Reef of the nearest coast of the Philippine island of Mindoro. It is separated from main island by the Apo East Pass of the Mindoro Strait. Politically, the reef lies within the jurisdiction of the Province of Occidental Mindoro in Region IV-B of the Philippines and more accurately of the Municipality of Sablayan. Tourism activities are administered by local government of Sablayan and the local office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Apo Reef is roughly a triangular coral atoll formation approximately from the north to the south tip, and from east to west. It is separated by
Piracy off the coast of Somalia vessels which pass through that area. The rate of attacks in January and February 2009 was about 10 times higher than during the same period in 2008 and "there have been almost daily attacks in March", with 79 attacks, 21 successful, by mid-April. Most of these attacks occurred in the Gulf of Aden but subsequently the pirates increased their range and started attacking ships as far south as off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. Below are some notable pirate events which have garnered significant media coverage since 2007. On 28 May 2007, a Chinese sailor was killed