Piracy Hot Spots 

        "Taking a look at the hot-spots of attacks and piracy and you will see that they all have one common denominator. . . the inability of local governments to effect a timely and continued response against the perpetrators. . . The simple fact is that, lines of territorial jurisdiction in most cases prohibit an effective response by a single local government agency. It raises the issue of the need for a concerted multi-national solution."¹

        "Only isolated incidents of high seas crime occur within the reach of organized rescue and naval forces."² For example, the United States has had few incidents of maritime piracy within its territorial waters. This is due to the fact that the United States Coast Guard and United States Naval forces, when alerted, will respond to incidents and pursue the perpetrators abroad. They have the means of sea and air transport to carry out these pursuits, and the "diplomatic framework exists that enables the pursuit to extend into the territorial waters of adjacent nations."³ This is a powerful deterrent to the potential attacker, and this is why there are few piratical attacks near U.S. territorial waters.

        As of June 1999, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Brazil ranked as the three major “hot-spots” of piracy attacks:

"Areas of concern include the South China Seas, West Africa, South America (particularly the ports of Brazil), the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, The Philippines, Indonesia, Somalia and, with the chaos in Albania, even parts of the Mediterranean. Over 200 crew have been assaulted, taken hostage or injured in attacks this year, and eight killed. The figures also show that pirates are more likely to be armed with guns than in previous years - in 21 incidents during the first half of 1997, compared with 16 in the same period last year."⁴

South-East Asia

        Southeast Asia retains its position as the most active region in regards to attacks upon vessels. "More than half of all reported attacks occur in this region, and they continue to increase in frequency."⁵ The entire region of Southeast Asia, including the South China Sea, is currently considered a danger zone. "The waters off Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore are the predominant areas of incident occurrence."⁶

        Attacks have become especially prevalent in Asian waters, where "the absence of naval power, coastal police patrols, cooperative law enforcement and treaty agreements have made the shipping lanes a pirate's dream. Criminal enterprises using sophisticated knowledge of the shipping industry, and often aided by compliant local officials, can plunder with minimal risk. In some cases, pirates have tied up the bridge crews of large oil tankers and freighters, leaving the ships adrift and creating a scary potential for grounding or collision and an environmentally disastrous oil spill."⁷
        In this area, both commercial and yachting interests are being attacked with increasing frequency. Small coastal tankers are becoming popular targets as well, as their product can be easily sold to local villagers who operate small vessels.

"Beijing told a United Nations maritime safety official it rejected allegations that "the normal execution of law enforcement duties by competent Chinese authorities constitutes any form of unlawful act." It said its patrol boats were often simply trying to crack smuggling cases when they approached other vessels. However China has also acknowledged that some pirates may have copied the uniforms of its navy and mimicked the colorings of official vessels."⁸

India

        The IMB reports that in Calcutta ship traffic has been restricted to daylight operations because of night pirate attacks.

Africa

        On the coastal waters surrounding the continent of Africa, the majority of piratical attacks occurred in "the vicinity of Nigeria, Somalia, and Sierra Leone, and nearly all were within territorial waters."¹² Numerous shore-based incidents have occurred involving nighttime attacks against anchored, stationary vessels. "More than two thirds of the attacks targeted anchored vessels. Attacker success rate was 95% or higher."¹³

Latin America

        In 1996 Brazilian waters had the distinction of being the second- most pirate-plagued waters in the world, with 15 cases of piracy reported. The attackers are usually heavily armed. In addition to the pattern that the majority of piratical attacks occurred off anchorages, and the pirates were reported to be armed, there was another pattern: Radio calls made to port authorities were met with very little, to no response.

        "The 1996 Annual Maritime Piracy Report warned that Brazil needed to control the issues of maritime piracy and robbery, but over the years, the Brazilian government has proven indifferent to the problem. "Brazil remains a highly dangerous area and this will continue to be so as long as the authorities fail to acknowledge the situation,'' it said."¹⁸

Mediterranean

        The predominant attacks in this area occur against coastal fishing vessels and yachts. The western coastal waters of Greece, particularly the Greek Island of Corfu, are the prime areas of piratical attacks and robberies. Many of these attacks have been linked to Albanian bandits, "who conduct their attacks while armed with automatic weapons and grenades."¹⁵ Violence is very common during these attacks.
 

14. Kellerman, David N. "Worldwide Maritime Piracy Report: June 1999." www.maritimesecurity.com
15. Kellerman, David N. "Worldwide Maritime Piracy Report: June 1999." www.maritimesecurity.com

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