Acts of piracyAs reported by IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre
Summary of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2010
Ships reported 445 attacks by pirates and armed robbers all over the world, which is 10% more than in 2009 (406 incidents); a total of 53 vessels were hijacked and 1181 crew members were captured (against 49 vessels and 1050 crew members in 2009); 8 seafarers were killed.
These figures include:
- in the waters off Somalia pirates hijacked 49 vessels (92% of all ship seizures) and took hostages 1016 crew members;
- in the Gulf of Aden 53 vessels came under attack (while in 2009 there were 117 such incidents*);
- around Nigeria 19 vessels were attacked by pirates and armed robbers, including 13 hijacked;
- in Bangladesh 21 vessels were attacked by armed robbers, mostly in the port of Chittagong;
- in Indonesia 40 vessels were attacked by armed robbers (this is the highest rate since 2007); among them 30 were boarded, 9 attacks were thwarted and 1 vessel was hijacked (Vessels were underway in 15 of the attacks);
- in the South China Sea 31 vessels were attacked by armed robbers (which is more than twice above 2009 levels), including 21 vessels boarded, 7 evaded boarding, 2 fired upon and 1 hijacked .
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*Such reduction is attributed to the deterrence work of naval forces from around the world that have been patrolling the area since 2008 and to ships’ application of self-protection measures recommended in Best Management Practices, version 3 (BMP 3), a booklet published last year by the shipping industry and navies. 1 April, 2010 Reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery in Marh 2010  Read more
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