http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000034050 <http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000034050&cid=464> &cid=464
Worldwide piracy cases hit record high in three months Published on 27/04/2011 By JOHN OYUKE Piracy at sea hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2011, with 142 attacks worldwide, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) has reported. The IMB said the sharp rise was driven by a surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia, where 97 attacks were recorded in the first quarter of 2011, up from 35 in the same period last year. Worldwide in the first quarter of 2011, 18 vessels were hijacked, 344 crew members were taken hostage, and six were kidnapped. A further 45 vessels were boarded, and 45 more fired upon, IMB has said a report. IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan, whose Piracy Reporting Centre has monitored piracy worldwide since 1991, said figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past three months are higher than the organisation has ever recorded in the first quarter of any past year. Dramatic increase During this period, pirates murdered seven crew members and injured 34 while just two injuries were reported in the first quarter of 2006. The IMB noted that of the "18 ships hijacked worldwide in the first three months of the year, 15 were captured off the East coast of Somalia, in and around the Arabian Sea and one in the Gulf of Aden. In this area alone, according the report, 299 people were taken as hostage and a further six were kidnapped from their vessel. At their last count, on 31 March, IMB figures showed that Somali pirates were holding captive 596 crew members on 28 ships. "We're seeing a dramatic increase in the violence and techniques used by pirates in the seas off Somalia," Mukundan said. <http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000034050&cid=464> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-os...@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor biso...@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: osint-dig...@yahoogroups.com osint-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/