Turning Up the Heat

摘要

Last year was a busy one for pirates, particularly in the waters off the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The number of piracy incidents reported worldwide in 2007 grew by 10 percent from the previ- ous year, according to the U.K.-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB). There were 263 reported attacks on commercial ships last year, up from 239 in 2006, with the most significant increase being recorded in waters off Nigeria and Somalia, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre said Jan. 9 in a statement accompanying its annual piracy report.