Monday, April 23, 2012
Sea piracy worldwide dropped 28 percent in the first quarter of the
year as attacks fell sharply in Somalia's waters thanks to international
naval patrols, an international maritime watchdog said Monday.Pirate attacks intensified, however, in Nigeria and Indonesia.
The
number of worldwide attacks in January to March dipped to 102, down
from 142 cases in the same period in 2011, the International Maritime
Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur said in a report. It
said 11 vessels were hijacked and 212 crew members taken hostage,
compared with 18 ships seized and 344 people taken hostage a year ago.
In
Somalia, there were 43 attacks, including nine vessel hijackings,
compared with 97 attacks a year ago. The agency attributed the decline
to "disruptive actions and pre-emptive strikes" by navies in the region.
Multiple
navies — including a large U.S. presence — patrol the Gulf of Aden and
the wider Indian Ocean, and many private ships now carry armed guards.
The
European Union Naval Force recently said it would expand its mission to
include Somalia's coast and waterways inside the country for the first
time, making its battle against piracy more proactive.
"It is
unlikely that the threat of Somali piracy will diminish in the short to
medium term unless further actions are taken," the agency said. "The EU
announcement to expand their anti-piracy mission to target pirates
ashore is another welcome move that could further threaten the Somali
piracy model."
As of the end of March, suspected Somali pirates
still held 15 vessels and 253 crew members, with an additional 49 crew
members hostage on land, the agency said.
Elsewhere, pirate attacks intensified in Nigeria and Indonesia.
Pirates
attacked 10 vessels off Nigeria in the first quarter, equaling the same
number reported for the whole of last year. The agency said Nigerian
pirates were also responsible for an attack in neighboring Benin during
the period.
It said Nigerian pirates were going further into sea
to attack ships and that the level of violence against crew was
dangerously high. London-based Lloyd's Market Association, an umbrella
group of insurers, last year listed Nigeria, Benin and nearby waters in
the same risk category as Somalia.
The agency said pirate attacks in Indonesian waters rose to 18 from five in the first quarter last year.