The rumors concerning the demise of maritime piracy
back in the 19th century were a tad premature. The
scourge has so resurged that the International Maritime
Board (IMB), founded by the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) in 1981, is forced to broadcast daily
piracy reports to all shipping companies by satellite from
its Kuala Lumpur Piracy Reporting Center, established in
1992 and partly funded by maritime insurers. The reports
carry this alarming disclaimer:
"For statistical purposes, the IMB defines piracy and
armed robbery as: An act of boarding or attempting to
board any ship with the apparent intent to commit theft or
any other crime and with the apparent intent or capability
to use force in the furtherance of that act. This definition
thus covers actual or attempted attacks whether the ship is
berthed, at anchor or at sea. Petty thefts are excluded,
unless the thieves are armed".
The 1994 United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea defines piracy as "any illegal acts of violence or
detention, or any act of depredation, committed by
individuals (borne aboard a pirate vessel) for private ends
against a private ship or aircraft (the victim vessel)".
When no "pirate vessel" is involved - for instance, when
criminals embark on a ship and capture it - the legal term
is hijacking.
On July 8, 2002 seven pirates, armed with long knives
attacked an officer of a cargo ship berthed in Chittagong
port in Bangladesh, snatched his gold chain and watch and
dislocated his arm. This was the third such attack since the
ship dropped anchor in this minacious port.
Three days earlier, in Indonesia, similarly-armed pirates
escaped with the crew's valuables, having tied the hands
of the duty officer. Pirates in small boats stole anodes
from the stern of a bulk carrier in Bangladesh. Others, in
Indonesia, absconded with a life raft.
The pirates of Guyana are either unlucky or untrained.
They were consistently scared off by flares hurled at them
and alarms set by vigilant hands on deck. A Colombian
band, riding a high speed boat, attempted to board a
container ship. Warring parties in Somalia hijacked yet
another ship in June 2002.
A particularly egregious case - and signs of growing
sophistication and coordinated action - is described in the
July 1-8, 2002 report of the IMB:
"Six armed pirates boarded a chemical tanker from a
small boat and stole ship's stores. Another group of pirates
broke in to engine room and stole spare parts. Thefts took
place in spite of the ship engaging three shore security
watchmen." Piracy incidents have been reported in India,
Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, the Red Sea,
the Gulf of Aden, Nigeria, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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