[xtypo_dropcap]P[/xtypo_dropcap]iracy reached a historic height in 2010, according to the International Maritime Bureau’s global piracy report.
A total of 445 ships were attacked in 2010, which is a 10 percent increase from 2009. The number of crew members taken hostage has increase sixfold over the past five years, reaching a total of 1,181 kidnappings in 2010.
“These figures for the number of hostages and vessels taken are the highest we have ever seen,” said Captain Pottengal Mukundan, director of the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre in a news release Monday.
According to the report, piracy off the coast of Somalia accounted for 92 percent of all ship seizures last year, and Somali pirates continue to expand their territory hijacking ships thousands of miles off the Somali coast.
A total of 445 ships were attacked in 2010, which is a 10 percent increase from 2009. The number of crew members taken hostage has increase sixfold over the past five years, reaching a total of 1,181 kidnappings in 2010.
“These figures for the number of hostages and vessels taken are the highest we have ever seen,” said Captain Pottengal Mukundan, director of the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre in a news release Monday.
According to the report, piracy off the coast of Somalia accounted for 92 percent of all ship seizures last year, and Somali pirates continue to expand their territory hijacking ships thousands of miles off the Somali coast.
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