Pirate attacks on the rise again

After weather kept them onshore for a few weeks, Somali pirates have resumed their attacks on vessels in the Gulf of Aden. Global piracy statistics reveal that in the first nine months of 2009, 114 vessels were boarded, 34 vessels hijacked and 88 vessels fired upon, according to Lloyd’s of London. A total of 661 crewmembers were taken hostage, 12 kidnapped, six killed and eight reported missing, Lloyd’s reportedA total of 306 piracy incidents were reported in the first nine months of 2009 to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC), according to Lloyd’s.This is compared to a reported 293 incidents for all of 2008.In addition, the total number of incidents in which guns were used has increased by more than 200% over 2008, Lloyd’s reported. “The increase in attacks is directly attributed to heightened piracy activity off the Somali Coast, where 47 incidents were reported compared to just 12 for the same period of the previous year — and in the Gulf of Aden, which had 100 incidents compared to 51 for the same period of the previous year,” according to a Lloyd’s release.