Where have all the pirates gone?

摘要

Somali piracy, which made the Gulf of Aden and the Somali coastline infamous in the past few years, has reduced to almost negligible amounts. According to IMB figures, there were 237 piracy related events in 2011, the point at which the phenomenon reached its zenith. In 2012 this dropped to 75. As of 14 October 2013, there were just 10 incidents this year, only two of which were hijackings. If the figures are examined more closely, the pattern for the downward trend in pirate activity, both in terms of frequency and capability, begins as early as mid-2012. In May of that year, Smyrni was successfully hijacked in the Indian Ocean. It was finally released after a ransom was paid in March 2013. This was the last ship of commercial size and value hijacked by Somali based pirates. Although three more vessels have been hijacked since then, these were much smaller fishing boats including the latest incident in June 2013. Attacks have occurred since in the Somali basin and Indian ocean, but it is not yet clear whether or not they represent a resurgence in pirate activity or merely isolated incidents.