Pirates increase use of guns as attacks climb

Increased pirate attacks along the Somali waters has pushed up global piracy figures surpassing last year’s, according to the latest International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) report.

The reports says that 306 attacks were reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in the first nine months of 2009, while in 2008, the total number of attacks for the year was 293.

It also reveals that incidents in which guns were used had risen by more than 200 per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 2008.

The quarterly piracy report, attribute the surge in the attacks to heightened piracy activity off the Somali Coast, where 47 incidents were reported compared to just 12 for the same period of the previous year.

At the Gulf of Aden, there were 100 incidents compared to 51 for the same period of the previous year.

Despite the overall rise in figures, there has been a decrease in the number of incidents recorded in the third quarter of 2009 (63 incidents) compared to the first and second quarters, which recorded 103 and 140 incidents respectively.

The decrease in piracy activity in that period in the Gulf of Aden and off the East Coast of Somalia can be credited primarily to monsoons.

The statistics reveal that in the first nine months, 114 vessels were boarded, 34 vessels hijacked and 88 vessels fired upon.

A total of 661 crew members were taken hostage, 12 kidnapped, six killed and eight reported missing.

However, it paints a bright picture in the efforts to combat the crime, pointing out that there has been a marked decrease globally in the number of vessels hijacked in the first nine months of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

This is from an average of one in 6.4 vessels in 2008 to one in nine vessels in 2009.

There is a strong international military presence in the piracy infested Gulf of Eden near Somali a move that has reduced the number of hijacks.

However, there are still calls particularly from the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, that naval piracy deterrent actions should be scaled up.

The report says Somali pirates have extended their reach, threatening not only the Gulf of Aden and East Coast of Somalia but also the southern region of the Red Sea, the Bab el Mandab Straits and the East Coast of Oman.

The area is still ranked the number one piracy hotspot, with a total of 168 incidents reported in the first three quarters of 2009, accounting for more than half of reported attacks.