Until recently, piracy has been relatively unheard of in contemporary

news media. The practice, however, has garnered international

prominence in recent years (especially the Somali piracy activities off of

the coast of Africa). In response, an international coalition has been

formed to fend off pirates along the Somali coast. The coalition has

enjoyed high levels of success, and piracy there has been significantly

assuaged. Nevertheless, the practice has since spread to other major

sea routes around the world, from South East Asia and the

Mediterranean, to West Africa and Central America. Such piracy poses

real threats to maritime travel, and policing massive swaths of open

ocean has proven quite difficult. Policing the high seas requires a

considerable input of resources, both monetarily and in terms of

equipment. In addition, such maritime security efforts cannot realize full

success unless there is cooperation at the international level.

Modern pirates tend to attack cargo ships and fishing vessels, which

have commodities readily sellable on the black market, and therefore

rarely direct their attention towards cruise ships. Smaller pirate gangs,

who do not have the resources to seize the cargo being transported, will

instead often times board a ship to steal substantial amounts of the cash

ships carry for payroll and port fees, and a recent trend has been more
frequent kidnappings of crewmembers to be exchanged for ransom

money.

Key Areas of Maritime Piracy

Indonesia

The general indication has been that piracy tends to thrive in what are

known as ‘choke points’. For instance, in the water surrounding

Indonesia, there has been an increase in pirate activity, giving it the

reputation of the world's most pirate infested water. The Strait of

Malacca is the epicenter for much of the pirate activity in Indonesia. The

high volume of valuable goods crossing through the strait makes it a

position that is vulnerable to violent attacks.

Somalia

Piracy has been a problem in Somalia since at least the year 2000.

Instability within the country rendered the existence of a national coast

guard impossible, and large ships took advantage of the situation by

entering Somali waters. In response to the invasion, the local fishing

population formed a defensive group as a result. These groups hijacked

the foreign ships who were entering illegally. As their hijackings became
more and more profitable, it became a larger operation. This is how

pirate activity in Somalia began.

Nigeria

Much like Somalia, piracy started to become a large problem in Nigeria

in the early 2000s. The pirate activity surrounding the Nigerian coast is

sophisticated and highly evolved, at a cost of around 2 billion USD

annually. Unlike pirate activities in the Indian Ocean or Somali coast,

piracy in the Gulf of Guinea near Nigeria not only seem to increasing, but

seem to be getting more and more violent.

Combating Modern Pirates

International anti-piracy efforts have been effective in bringing the

number of total piracy incidents down from a peak of nearly five hundred

attacks in 2010 to around half of that by 2014. Hopefully, this trend will

prove to be sustainable over the long-term. Piracy must be treated like

any other crime and, like the efforts to decrease crime in general, ending

piracy on the high seas will involve improving the socioeconomic

situations of people globally, especially in coastal nations that are

hotbeds for piracy. These efforts need to be particularly intensified in

South East Asia, which has recorded almost three quarters of all pirate

attacks. For countries on the west coast of Africa, establishing stable

governments will likely be just as critical to combatting piracy as heavy

policing of the coasts there.

Ships today are increasingly employing defensive mechanisms against

piracy, such as razor wire, electric fences, high-pressure water hoses,

and even such hi-tech creations as ‘sound guns’. This new technology is

from BAE Systems, and is a non-lethal laser cannon that can be used

against moving targets more than a mile away which will daze potential

pirates.

Piracy poses an especially unique and serious threat to the global

economy, as most international trade takes place via sea transport. As a

result, there is a need for a solid international strategy to deal with this

scourge. To do so, international cooperation needs to go beyond simply

arresting and prosecuting pirates, and look into the underlying causes of

poverty that may turn many individuals to a life of maritime crime. These

include poor governance, corruption, and lack of education that

perpetuates cyclical poverty. Unless these problems are solved, piracy is

unlikely to be abated upon the high seas.

Modern Day Pirate Attacks By Country

● View information as a:
● List
● Chart
Rank Region Number of Pirate Attacks

1 Indonesia 43

2 Somalia 31

3 Nigeria 22

4 Gulf of Aden 10

5 India 7

6 Bangladesh 7

7 Red Sea 7

8 Ivory Coast 6

9 Peru 4

10 Singapore Strait 4