3rd eng
Piracy and robbery at the sea is a common phenomenon that the shipping industry all over the world has to face. The pirates are a group of people who wait for a chance to rob or steal articles form a ship.
They also take hostages and demand ransom. Many a time they also land up killing a lot of people. They are a big threat to the international trade and have been operating for a long time all over the world. We will now discuss about maritime piracy statistics in more details.
We all have heard of pirates and read about them too. Piracy is more common in Somalia. The reason might definitely be poverty. Till 3rd December 2012 there were about two hundred and seventy eight attacks all over the world. Of which about twenty seven were hijacks. Of these two hundred and seventy eight odd incidents seventy one were in Somalia itself. The hijacks in Somalia numbered to about thirteen.
These figures are definitely alarming. The number of hostages that were taken in Somalia itself is about two hundred and twelve. As of today the Somalia pirates have nine vessels with them and around one hundred and forty seven hostages.
The maritime piracy statistics is scary indeed and it is one of the most dangerous aspects that can be associated to sailing apart from the weather. The figures that we have given above are taken from Maritime piracy humanitarian response to piracy (MPHRP). This organisation keeps a track of all the maritime piracy that takes place across the world.
In the olden days piracy existed and many life and wealth were lost to pirates. In the modern time the incidents are much lesser but they do happen. IMO has initiated very tough rules and regulations against maritime piracy statistics. This has definitely reduced the effect of piracy to a great extent. However, there is still a long way to go in order to remove it completely.
A best management practice has been prepared by the shipping organisations and Maritime piracy humanitarian response to piracy (MPHRP) it is also called the BMP. It gives all the guidelines that one has to follow when they are in the high sea. For example how they can protect the ship and the crew if there is an attack from the pirates.
These guidelines are updated from time to time as per the new lessons that are learnt from the maritime piracy that is happening all around the world. The captain of the ship must read it especially when he is going into areas that have high threat of piracy. The two such regions are Somalia and Gulf of Eden. The manual can also be available online and anyone can download them easily.
Maritime piracy humanitarian response to piracy (MPHRP) has also come up with guidelines that must be followed when a sailor is taken hostage. The trauma that the sailor and family follow can be handled with these guidelines. These can be followed by the shipping companies to handle a situation when their employees are taken as hostage.
The IMO feels that there are many small maritime that is not even reported. The shipping companies and the sailors all across the world must report these incidents. Even if the incident was a small one and not a successful one it must be reported so that the leanings from it can be recorded and used for future purpose. Maritime piracy is illegal and it must be stopped at any cost. All the nations of the world are united on this and they want the sea to be a safer place.
The anti piracy project of IMO stated in 1998. Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia (RECAAP) is also a very popular mandate that was passed by the IMO. This has definitely helped in handling the problem of piracy across the world.
It is quite clear from the above maritime piracy statistics that the piracy has come under control due to the measures that IMO has taken over the last few years. We hope that the maritime piracy becomes nil and no other ship ever gets looted by pirates.
Maritime Piracy Statistics,
