Piracy attacks on sea shipping were down in third quarter

The International Maritime Bureau signals fewer incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships.

The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) announced that it recorded 119 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the third quarter of 2019, compared to 156 incidents for the same period in 2018.

According to the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre the 2019 incidents include 95 vessels boarded, 10 vessels fired upon, 10 attempted attacks, and four vessels hijacked. The number of crew taken hostage through the first nine months has declined from 112 in 2018 to 49 in 2019.

The Gulf of Guinea remains a high risk area for piracy and armed robbery. The region accounts for 86% of crew taken hostage and nearly 82% of crew kidnappings globally.

Meanwhile, Indonesia reported a decline in overall piracy related incidents with 20 actual and attempted attacks for the first nine months of 2019.

Somalia has no piracy-related incidents recorded for the first nine months of 2019.