Good news, of sorts, the number of piracy attacks declined in the first three quarters.

Pirate attacks drop worldwide, Indonesian waters still the most dangerous

(AFP) - Pirate attacks worldwide dropped 18 percent in the first nine months of this year to 205 but Indonesian waters remained the most dangerous and accounted for nearly one third of the total, a watchdog body said Tuesday.

There were 61 attacks in Indonesian waters, the Piracy Reporting Centre of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in a statement.

“Violence and intimidation of crew continues to be the hallmark of these attacks (worldwide), with many of the pirates armed with guns and knives,” it said.

The IMB said that during the period, 259 seafarers were taken hostage worldwide, 10 kidnapped for longer periods, 19 were assaulted and 12 remained missing. There were 251 pirate attacks during the corresponding period last year.

“In some incidents pirates operated in large groups and attacked vessels from different directions at the same time,” it said.

The nugget of dark reality to this is that the drop in pirate attacks was partly caused by the devastation caused by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.:

The notorious Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia — used by some 50,000 ships a year carrying a third of world trade — saw a sharp drop in attacks to 10 from 25 in the same period in 2004.

The IMB said that with the increase in maritime patrols by Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore the number of attacks had declined.

“After the tsumani struck on December 26, 2004, there were no incidents in the Malacca Strait for the next two months. However, since the end of February 2005, 10 attacks have occurred,” it said.

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