The year 2021 was a historic low point for Piracy, but many threats remain, reports the Maritime Executive.
Global piracy in 2021 is at its lowest level
Global piracy in 2021 is at its lowest level since 1994. Moreover, this level is achieved with the inclusion of many incidents that do not meet the UNCLOS definition of maritime piracy, especially when considering the location of events.
For example, 90 incidents of piracy were reported in Asia. In fact, all of these incidents occurred within 6 nautical miles of the coast (nearly half of them at anchor). It is worth noting that more than half of the incidents (49) occurred in the Singapore Strait – more precisely, in the eastern part of the Strait, between 102 and 117 degrees East.
It is worth noting that sea robbers were very frequently armed with knives or firearms, sometimes using violence or coercion during the acts of robbery, which is a notable development in this region.
Indian Ocean
Maritime piracy in the Indian Ocean has almost disappeared. Only one event (an incident aboard the ANATOLIAN on August 13, along the coast of Somalia) has been considered as a “maritime piracy act” by some specialized agencies, but the description of the event is more oriented towards post-smuggling.
In the northern Indian Ocean, several cases of maritime terrorism have been reported against tankers attacked by air or sea drones near Oman and the entrance to the Persian Gulf or along the Yemeni coast and the entrance to the Red Sea.
South America
In South America, two cases of piracy were reported against a yacht and an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The other cases are concentrated in the anchorage areas of Callao in Peru and Guayaquil in Ecuador. Also noteworthy are the cases of two ships attacked in Port Aux Princes, Haiti, by heavily armed men.
No cases of piracy were reported in the Mediterranean, but several ships/tankers were stopped by the Libyan coast guard while transiting through ‘unauthorized’ areas. Illegal maritime migration remains high, with several cases of rescued migrants threatening the ship’s crew during rescue.
Gulf of Guinea
Finally, the Gulf of Guinea, despite the drastic decrease in piracy acts observed in 2021 – a drop of more than 60 percent compared to 2020 – remains the hot spot for global maritime piracy. The year can be divided into two unequal parts in intensity and duration, with a very high level of threats/incidents until mid-February, followed by a sharp decline during the remaining 10 months of the year.
In addition to the recurrent robberies of ships at anchor, the second characteristic is the confirmation of the very large dispersion of maritime piracy acts that took place in a danger area of 220,000 square nautical miles.
The kidnapping of crewmembers remains the main objective of the pirates, with 10 cases of kidnapping at sea resulting in the abduction of 71 sailors. Finally – and especially at the end of the year – there was an increase in the level of violence during piracy incidents, with crew members killed or injured (Mozart -Tampen -Tonsberg -Tropical).
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Source: The Maritime Executive
