Showing posts with label piracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piracy. Show all posts
January 17, 2010
November 4, 2009
July 14, 2009
Spatial Analysis of Somali Pirate Activity (Reuters)
Click the Title to go the Report on the Reuters website.
This report contains a detailed spatial analysis of the dramatic upsurge of pirate activity in 2009, focusing on changes in attack locations within the Gulf of Aden, changes in the attack success rate by month as well as on the unprecedented expansion of attacks in the Indian Ocean.
Pirate Incident Reports: ICC-IMB, ONI
IMO, NATO, Garowe Online & MSC(HOA)
GIS Data: NASA, USGS, UNOSAT
KEY FINDINGS:
- The overall pirate hijacking success rate for 2009 (vessel hijackings / total attacks) is currently at 23%. This is significantly lower than
the average in 2008 of 40% and is likely due to the increased naval patrols and heightened security practices of the merchant vessels in
the Gulf of Aden.
- Despite this relative decline in the pirate success rate, there is an alarming increase in the absolute number of pirate attacks and an
unprecedented expansion of pirate activity in the Indian Ocean, constituting a new phase of Somali piracy.
- There have been a total of 19 successful hijackings and 81 reported pirate attacks in 2009, an increase of over 650% from the same
period last year. If this attack rate is sustained, it will easily surpass the record number of attacks (115) in 2008 and could climb above
200 attacks in 2009.
June 15, 2009
November 19, 2008
Piracy in the Indian Ocean
Somali 'pirates' have been in the news, and the media is of course treating the story with typical poor reporting (except for al-Jazeera, may its house increase). Like they refer to the main boat that these Somalis launch raids from as "the mothership" like these people are some Borg-like other race. Anyway, the ship boardings and kidnappings have intensified over the past weeks.
I have this sinking feeling that 'piracy' is gonna be the new catchword on par with terrorism, thus transforming what is basically an act of economic desperation into an act with connotations of preying on innocents. Folks, these are OIL TANKERS, ok, not little fishing vessels. Why else do you think these 'pirates' are boarding them? There is MAD multinational DOUGH involved! These are ex-fishermen who've been getting royally F--KED by the world economy--basically its open season for international fishermen off the coast of Somalia, since the non-existent Somalian government is unable to defend, patrol, or even assert its rights to its own coastal waters. I mean isn't it also piracy to trespass in another nation's coastal waters?
Sorry, its late, I had to rant...What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)