Reuters – U.S. and German navy ships have cornered Somali pirates who seized a Japanese-owned chemical tanker more than a month ago and are demanding a ransom.
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Category Archives: Piracy
Piracy – Somali pirates free Taiwan boat
BBC – Pirates have freed a Taiwanese vessel and its crew, kidnapped almost six months ago off the coast of Somalia.
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Piracy – Google Map Tracks Modern Day Pirate Attacks
Wired – The International Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Crime Services now provides a Google Maps mashup showing all documented pirate attacks for each of the last three years.
View the Piracy Attacks Map.
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Piracy – Pirates seize UN ship off Somalia
BBC – Pirates are reported to have hijacked a UN-chartered cargo ship delivering food aid to north-eastern Somalia.
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US Navy – Pirates! Just what Pakistan Needs
Washington Post – William Arkin on why the US Special Operations Command is showing an increased interest in combating piracy in the Indian Ocean.
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Piracy – 'Mother ship' behind pirate raids
BBC – Pirate attacks off Somalia’s coast are being organised from command vessels, or “mother ships”, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has said.
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Piracy – Piracy 'on the rise' off Somalia
BBC – Serious pirate attacks off the Somali coast have jumped dramatically after a two-year lull.
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Piracy – Ship Blasted Pirates With Sonic Weapon
Associated Press – The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a non-lethal sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend
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Piracy – Cruise ship repels Somali pirates
BBC – A cruise ship sailing off Somalia has beaten back gunmen in speedboats who opened fire on it in an apparent pirate attack which terrified passengers.
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Piracy – Maritime Terrorism in Southeast Asia
Naval War College Review – The Abu Sayyaf group, originally devoted to the establishment of a radical Islamic state in the Philippines through terrorism, has been fragmented and reduced to banditry by the Philippine military response. Nonetheless, especially by virtue of its inherent maritime capability, it is an important part of the maritime terrorist threat facing Southeast Asia.
Piracy – Somalis seek help to stop pirates
BBC – Somalia’s transitional prime minister, Ali Mohammed Ghedi, has urged neighbouring countries to send warships to patrol waters off the Somali coast.
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Piracy – Group: Sea piracy drops worldwide
Associated Press – The number of pirate attacks worldwide hit a six-year low in the first half of 2005, but Iraq and Somalia emerged as increasingly perilous hotspots for commercial ships, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
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Piracy – Oil tanker boarded by pirates off Basra
Daily Telegraph – Pirates clutching knives and AK47s boarded a supertanker moored off Basra in the latest of a series of seaborne robberies in the Persian Gulf.
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Piracy – Resurgence of piracy on tsunami-hit seas
BBC – After a period of relative quiet following December’s tsunami, maritime piracy appears to be re-emerging in Asia and is sparking concerns about a potential terrorist attack.
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Piracy – After tsunami, fears of a piracy resurgence
Reuters – A string of bold attacks by armed bandits in the Malacca Strait is stoking fears of a new wave of sea piracy in one of the world’s busiest waterways, fuelled by desperation in tsunami-ravaged northern Indonesia.
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Piracy – Growing threat of 'maritime muggers'
BBC – In children’s storybooks, they are daring rogues or fearless adventurers???In real life, pirates are dangerous criminals that many fear have become increasingly brazen and violent.
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Piracy – Japan seeks help against pirates
Reuters – Japan has called on the governments of three Southeast Asian nations for help after armed pirates kidnapped three crew members from a Japanese tugboat they attacked in the Malacca Strait
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Piracy – Pirates storm Indonesian tanker
BBC – Pirates have attacked a gas tanker in the Malacca Strait, kidnapping its captain and chief engineer for ransom.
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Piracy – The pirates will be back
New York Times – An unsuspected bit of good news related to the Indian Ocean tsunami was revealed recently when the International Maritime Bureau released its annual report on pirate attacks against international shipping. The new figures showed a 27 percent decline in 2004, to 325 incidents from 445 in 2003, and noted that there had not been single attack in the pirate-infested waters off Sumatra since the earthquake. Now, while these figures show an improvement, the positive trend should not distract us from the huge threat that piracy, and its connection to terrorism, poses to the global economy.
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Piracy – Malacca Strait pirates dealt blow by Asian tsunami
Reuters – Deadly bands of pirates robbing ships and kidnapping crews in the Malacca Strait may have been dealt a body blow by the tsunami that tore through the Indian Ocean last month, an anti-piracy watchdog said.
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Piracy – Rise in Murders, Kidnappings at Sea Makes Piracy a Top Naval Priority Worldwide
Sea Power – International piracy has become a top priority for military and police officials from Southeast Asia to Africa and the United States.
Piracy – Piracy in Malacca Strait down as patrols increase
Straits Times – Sea crime in the Malacca Strait appears to have dropped since Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore began stepping up patrols along the waterway on July 20.
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Piracy – Killings by pirates on the rise
BBC – The body that monitors piracy around the world has reported a sharp rise in the number of ships crew killed in the first half of 2004. The number of attacks around the world fell by almost a quarter compared to the same period last year, but the situation in the Malacca Strait deteriorated.
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