The World's Most Dangerous Waters

Contrary to what many people think, piracy has not been relegated to the history books. On the contrary, it has risen sharply in the last decade: The global arms trade has made it easy to access cheap and powerful weapons, and globalization has filled the oceans with cargo vessels. The plunder has spawned a new era of piracy that is dominated by machine-gun-toting gangs equipped with rocket-propelled grenades and other modern weapons ready to board, kill crews, steal cargo and even hijack and resell ships. Here's where they strike most.

Somalia

Piracy has soared along Somalia's 1,880-mile coast, which is the longest in Africa and scrapes up against key shipping routes in the Red Sea. Pirates routinely fire on ships with automatic weapons, trying to coerce them into exposed positions where they can be more easily overtaken. In some instances, the pirates have fired rocket-propelled grenades at ships. To extend their range, Somali pirates have started launching attacks from "mother vessels," which launch smaller attack boats at much greater distances from the shore


Nigeria

Two days after Christmas in 2007, the Jag Payal, a chemical Tanker from India, dropped its anchor off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria. The captain posted two crew members on piracy watch, which wasn't enough. A band of pirates overtook the watch keepers, beating one severely and tying down the other. By the time the rest of the crew realized what had happened, the pirates had escaped in a waiting boat. Local authorities never responded to calls for aid. In 2008, Nigeria has seen a strong surge in sea piracy and presently accounts for more than 20% of piracy incidents reported this year.



Indonesia

Banditry on the high seas is big business in the island archipelago of Indonesia. Ironically, it used to be much bigger. Since the beginning of this year, Indonesia has escaped its ignominious status as the world leader in piracy attacks. The decrease in the number of reported attacks, which reflects the recent government crack down on piracy, has lowered Indonesia to fourth in the number of piracy attacks reported so far in 2008.


Gulf of Aden/Red Sea

The Gulf of Aden has plenty of targets for sea pirates. The Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, sends a steady supply of ocean traffic into the Gulf of Aden. A growing number of those vessels do not make it out. The region has seen a sharp rise in piracy attacks, nearly twice as many as last year.


Straits of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca, which connects China and India, is among the most critical choke points in ocean sea lanes. Needless to say, it alarmed the maritime industry when Lloyd's Market Association listed the Malacca Strait as a war zone for insurance purposes, raising insurance premiums to prices that rivaled those businesses paid while operating in Iraq, in 2005. Roughly 550 miles long, the Strait's geography makes it a popular preying ground for pirates. The strait is narrow, contains thousands of islets, and is an outlet for many rivers, making it easy for pirates to attack and escape capture. In recent years, joint patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have reduced the number of incidents of sea piracy in the region from more than 50 attacks annually to only one so far this year.


Tanzania

The Mafia Island archipelago off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean is billed as a snorkeler's paradise. Pirates like it too. The islands sit beside a critical waterway for global trade and commerce in the Indian Ocean, which is crossed by half the world's containerized freight, a third of its bulk cargo and two-thirds of its oil shipments.


Bangladesh

In the port city of Chittagong, pirates are known to target ships preparing to anchor. Although the number of attacks has fallen recently, the area is still listed as very high risk.



Malaysia

Malaysia's piracy problem has improved dramatically in the past two years. Although the Malaysian government has taken credit for the trend, it might not deserve any. In the past decade, the proliferation of piracy attacks in the South China Sea has resulted in the creation of private navies, which provide on-board security and naval escort services to cargo ships and tankers in the region. Since 2005, several maritime security companies from the U.S. and Britain have set up shop in the region, cashing in on the high price of naval security services which often exceed $50,000 per ship. Most of these companies, such as Background Asia Risk Solutions, the first naval security company to open for business in Singapore, recruit military veterans, often with experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, from the U.S. and Britain.


Peru

The illegal drug trade has put Peru on the map of pirate-infested waters. In particular, the port city of Callao has become the leading region for piracy attacks in both South America and North America.