Global pirate attacks so far this year have already exceeded the number recorded in 2008, and attackers are much more likely to use firearms, a maritime watchdog said today.
"The increase in attacks is directly attributed to heightened piracy activity off the Somali Coast... And in the Gulf of Aden," the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in a report.
Incidents off the coast of lawless Somalia rose to 47 during the first nine months of 2009 from 12 in the same period a year ago, while in the Gulf of Aden there were 100 attacks compared to 51.
Globally, there were 306 incidents reported to the IMB's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur for the first nine months of 2009, compared with 293 for the same period last year, and just below the record of 344 set in 2003.
However, the IMB said the rate of successful hijackings had dropped substantially this year, to an average of one in nine vessels targeted by pirates compared with one in 6.4 last year.
"In 2008 there were a lot of successful hijackings but in 2009, because of increased naval patrols, although the number of attacks has increased their success in getting the ships has decreased," said reporting centre chief Noel Choong.