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Piracy attacks at all-time high

19 Oct 2011

So far this year there have been 352 attacks on ships throughout the world according to the International Maritime Bureau, which has hailed the international anti-piracy measures being implemented by navies and commercial shipping lines.

News24 quotes the bureau's director, Captain Pottengal Mukundan as saying that figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea are higher than ever recorded in past years. He says Somali pirates are intensifying their attacks and even carried out a raid on a tanker at anchor in an Omani port.

Attempts to thwart attacks appear to be having some success. According to the IMB, Somali pirates attacked 199 ships this year, sharply up from 126 last year. However, it says, the pirates have only been successful in 12% of the attacks to date compared with 28% last year.

So far the pirates have killed eight people and injured 41. They have captured at least 625 hostages. Along the West Coast of Africa, the main focus of piracy has been off Benin where there have been 19 attacks so far this year.

The navies of Nigeria and Benin are now constantly patrolling the coastline in an attempt to capture pirates operating there and to prevent attacks against commercial ships.

Read the full article on www.news24.com.