Global piracy attacks up 20%

[cat man do]

Maritime - Global piracy attacks up 20%

Global piracy attacks up 20%



REPORTED piracy attacks worldwide has increased by 19.5% to 49 cases in the first quarter of this year against the same period last year.
ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in its latest quarterly report, said that in the period under review, 36 vessels were boarded and one vessel hijacked.
Malaysia’s Paskal commandos lowering themselves for the heli-drop on board a ship during an exercise.


Despite the increase in piracy attacks globally, no incident has been reported at the Straits of Malacca

Seven crewmembers were taken hostage, six kidnapped, three killed and one missing (presumed dead).
In the majority of incidents, the attackers were heavily armed with guns or knives.
The use and threat of violence against seafarers remained unacceptably high.
“It is essential that the serious incidents are carefully analysed and the lessons learnt made available to all ship owners and their advisors who fall victim to serious attacks.
“This kind of data is invaluable in updating preventive and response measures on board vessels as well as identifying the pirates and their groups,” said IMB director captain Pottengal Mukundan.

Nigeria was on top of the list – accounting for over 20% of the total pirates attack cases with ten incidents reported.
Vessels have been fired upon and crew injured where many of the attacks were concentrated off Lagos.
India and the Gulf of Aden shared the second hotspot rank with five reported incidents.
The incidents in India were low-level attacks aimed at theft from the vessel while the attacks in the Gulf of Aden were all aimed at hijacking the vessel and to be taken to small ports on the eastern coast of Somalia.

But for the first time in 10 years, Indonesia no longer ranked the highest number of reported incidents.

There has been a sustained drop in the number of reported attacks in the archipelago leading up to only four incidents reported this quarter.
Indonesia ranked fourth this quarter and the Indonesia Navy and the Police should be commended for the anti-piracy measures taken.

Waters around Somalia continue to be notorious for hijacking of vessels and the abduction of crew for ransom.
The locations of these attacks have moved from the eastern coast of Somalia to the north and north eastern coast and the Gulf of Aden.
There was only one attempted attack off the eastern coastline – some 390 nautical miles from the coastline.
The tug, Svitzer Korsakov, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
The heavier concentration of traffic in the Gulf of Aden was taken advantage by the pirates that did not have to range as far away from the coast, although they now operate in an area with a large number of Coalition Naval vessels.
For the busy Straits of Malacca, there have been no reported incidents this quarter.
This must be attributed to the enhanced cooperation between the littoral states.
But there is no room for complacency and it is vital that law enforcement resources remain deployed in the area.
In support of piracy studies and eradication, the IMB strongly urged all ship masters, owners, shipping industry bodies and the respective flag states to report all incidents of actual and attempted piracy and armed robbery to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC).
These attacks are always passed on immediately to the nearest law enforcement agency and followed up by the centre.
The reports are a vital first step in the response mechanism.
The IMB is aware that a number of incidents went unreported each year due to various fears and pressures upon captains.
The PRC also provides immediate advice to ship masters under attack, and through local authorities, have co-ordinated medical assistance and support.

All good in Asian waters then.

It should also be noted that in the vast majoirity of cases, that these offences would have been on commercial vessels.

Dave

[Keegan]

I hear sailing in the bath tub is VERY safe.

Keegan

[cat man do]

Oh, and no guns folks

This was just a bit of news, not an openning for a bloody gun discussion.

Dave

[ssullivan]

Guns are needed... blah blah... ha ha ha! Gotcha!

Luckily, pirates attack merchant ships and not cruisers. It's mostly common theives we have to deal with.

[David M]

Sullivan just put things into perspective about these acts of piracy that are occurring on merchant ships....so lets not get all paranoid.

[Pblais]

REPORTED piracy attacks worldwide has increased by 19.5% to 49 cases in the first quarter of this year against the same period last year.

An extra 5 cases in a year. Lets see how we can spin this into a serious global conspiracy. Must be global warming. Maybe it's the price of beer.

[Alan Wheeler]

Once again it is all in how statistics are used.
Did you know that 100% of everyone that breathes air eventually dies. So I suggest we all stop breathing.
Statistic's show that 99% of Statistics will be read in such away that they will result in a 99% increase in the amount of incorrectly read Statistical information available. :-)