The extent of the problem:
Piracy is an extremely serious problem to shipping. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has published figures for piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to the IMB in 2012. Up to the end of January, 37 attacks worldwide were reported - read Piracy News and Figures Further IMB material shows that attacks are getting bolder (IMB 14th July 2011 - an article with some truly frightening information). Nevertheless, the IMB indicated that although world piracy had a hit a new high, more ships were escaping from Somali pirates - see IMB 18th October 2011 This article stated:
"Demanding millions of dollars in ransom for captured ships and their crews, Somali pirates are intensifying operations not just off their own coastline, but further afield in the Red Sea – particularly during the monsoon season in the wider Indian Ocean. With unprecedented boldness, this August pirates also boarded and hijacked a chemical tanker at anchor in an Omani port, under the protection of coast state security.
But although Somali pirates are initiating more attacks – 199 this year, up from 126 for the first nine months of 2010 – they are managing to hijack fewer vessels. Only 24 vessels were hijacked this year compared with 35 for the same period in 2010. Hijackings were successful in just 12% of all attempts this year, down from 28% in 2011."
The IMB reported a doubling of piracy across the world in the first half of 2009 - see Maritime Terrorism Research Center 16th July 2009 and an interactive map for 2010 is also available. See further the Piracy and Armed Robbery interactive maps for 2011 and 2012.
Legal definitions:
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) places a duty on
