Piracy at sea marks lowest in 6 yrs: IMB

Piracy at sea has come down to its lowest level in six years, with 264 attacks recorded worldwide in 2013, a 40 percent drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011 registering a ‘low level’ armed robbery attacks in Bangladesh, too, International Maritime Bureau (IMB) revealed on January 15, according to a message received in Dhaka today. Active patrolling by the Bangladesh Coast Guard has kept the number of incidents off Chittagong in Bangladesh at around 12 for the last few years, said the IMB report adding that attacks in India and Bangladesh have been described as ‘low-level and opportunistic’. Just 15 incidents were reported off Somalia in 2013, down from 75 in 2012, and 237 in 2011. IMB’s annual global piracy report shows more than 300 people were taken hostage at sea last year and 21 were injured, nearly all with guns or knives. A total of 12 vessels were hijacked, 202 were boarded, 22 were fired upon and a further 28 reported attempted attacks. Nigerian pirates were particularly violent, killing one crewmember, and kidnapping 36 people to hold onshore for ransom. “The single biggest reason for the drop in worldwide piracy is the decrease in Somali piracy off the coast of East Africa,” said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB whose Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) has monitored world piracy since 1991, according to UNB.