Modern Day Pirates

[Lady Seahawke]

Pirate Killings Hit 10-Year Global High

Sun Jul 25, 8:34 PM ET

By SEAN YOONG, Associated Press Writer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Pirates killed 30 seafarers worldwide in the first six months of the year — the highest toll in more than a decade — and governments need to boost patrols in dangerous regions to curb the violence, a maritime group said Sunday.

The 30 killings compared to 16 during the same period last year despite an overall decline in pirate attacks, the British-based International Maritime Bureau said in a report released by its Piracy Watch Center in Kuala Lumpur.

"Reports of violence against seamen have risen," Capt. Potenggal Mukundan, IMB Director, said in the report. "Law enforcement agencies should thus increase their presence in these hotspots to prevent the loss of lives and injuries."

The casualty figures were the highest for the first half of any year since at least 1993, when the IMB began keeping records.

Fifteen deaths occurred in Nigerian waters, where pirates armed with automatic weapons have launched 13 attacks so far this year on commercial ships and passenger ferries plying the coast.

"The increased ferocity and the number of attacks are linked to law and order problems ashore," the IMB said. "The (Nigerian) authorities are under pressure and unable to respond adequately to attacks at sea."

Most of the other fatalities were in Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Nevertheless, the total number of pirate attacks worldwide fell to 182 so far this year from 234 in the first half of 2003, helped by decreasing attacks in places such as India and the Gulf of Aden.

But Indonesia alone suffered 50 pirate attacks, the most of any country.

That figure did not include another 20 attacks in the Straits of Malacca, which straddle Indonesia's Sumatra island and the Malay peninsula.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore last week began their first coordinated naval patrols to deter piracy and terrorism in the straits, through which 50,000 ships pass each year.

"Only time will tell whether or not these patrols prove effective," Noel Choong, head of the IMB's piracy watch center, told The Associated Press. "The countries involved must put in long-term commitment before the situation in these waters can improve significantly."

Other piracy-plagued nations include Ghana and Venezuela, which each suffered five attacks. Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam reported three attacks apiece.

[El Pirata]

I guess the modern day pirates are more similar to the pirates of old.

[Coastie04]

For weekly updates on pirate activity worldwide, look at the ICC's website at http://www.iccwbo.org/ccs/imb_piracy/weekl...racy_report.asp

It's rather disturbing how much happens each week.

Coastie

[Kuthroat Kim]

Wow. I guess real pirates are still on a roll. Do you think people in these areas would be offended by our piratical garb? (pirate/jolly roger t-shirts, etc.)??? Just an interesting thought....

[Coastie04]

I think what would scare them much more than anything is a group of people in modern, dark clothing armed with automatic weapons and machetes, boarding their vessel from a fast, inflatable boat. Our garb is so outdated that it would probably cause the same sort of chuckle it does here in America when some reinactor walks around Maine with a Confederate uniform on.

Coastie

[the Royaliste]

Interestin' site, coastie...The high voltage fence looked good, but 15K euro'sll buy a lot 'o ammo for wot we already own Besides, the 'fence' wouldnt work too good on a pirate ship.. As far as the chuckles, as a result of RR costumed events, Sausalito is getting a bit 'used' to pirates in garb walkin' towards the harbor....But, try it with a cowboy hat and boots, and ye'll be chuckled all the way back to the tourist buses!......

[privateer]

cowboy pirates !!!!

pirates, no matter what era, dressed fashionable. thats why they stole pillaged and such. to be able to get what they wanted but could not afford. that fence idea is a great concept but would only work on a large ship where people don't get to near the sides on a regular basis. a cattle guard for ships.

[Queen Annes Revenge]

There are indeed many pirate attacks still today.. Most of whitch obviously come from the Indian Ocean.. There are some weird stories about modern pirates on the web..

[Captain Morgana Bloodheart]

What exactly are these dastardly "modern" pirates going after? Anybody know?

[Katie Nameless]

Mostly, Capt. Bloodheart, they're goin' after the oil in the ships, they're on a mission te' do in the ship's Captain or they're just pillagin'.

I got involved in Greenpeace fer a while. Sometimes considered pyrates, they are. Word of advice-- never do it.

[privateer]

same thing pirates of old were after .................... MONEY !!!

they just don't have the common curtisie to take the whole ship and recruit those who want to join them. deffirent mind set now adays. less honor. the modern pirates are only on the water long enough to steal what they can. pirates of old had to be on the water a long time just to get to their victoms...er .......umm .....spoils ? look how much the mind set has changed shorebound.