KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -
Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia this year have surged 75 per cent, an international maritime agency said Thursday as it called for serious international action against the brigands who "operate with impunity."
The International Maritime Bureau said the waters off Somalia, including the Gulf of Aden, are the world's most dangerous, accounting for 63 -- or nearly a third -- of the 199 reported pirate attacks worldwide between January and September 2008.
The types of attacks, the violence associated with them, the number of hostages taken and the amounts paid in ransom have all also increased, according to a report released by the agency's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
But decreases in attacks in other parts of the world means that the total number of attacks in the first nine months of 2008 was virtually unchanged when compared to the same period last year when there were 198 attacks, the report said.
The agency said 51 of the 63 attacks off Somalia occurred in the gulf as pirates shifted their focus to large vessels passing through the vital sea lane that connects Asia, Africa and Europe. Of these, 26 vessels were hijacked, and 12 ships with more than 250 crew were still in pirate hands at the end of September.
"Piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia are unprecedented. It is clear that pirates in the Gulf of Aden believe that they can operate with impunity in attacking vessels," the bureau's Director Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement.
The agency called for serious action to be taken against the mother ships of the pirates before they succeed in hijacking vessels.
"The locations and descriptions of these mother ships are known. We therefore call upon all governments to direct their navies to disrupt the activities of the pirates and their mother ships. This is vital to protect this major world seaway," he said.
Though piracy is on the rise near Somalia, attacks have fallen in other areas, including Indonesia, which reported just 23 attacks in the first nine months of 2008 compared to 37 a year ago. Bangladesh and waters off South America have also seen a decrease in piracy.
Momentum has been growing for coordinated international action off Somalia's coast following the Sept. 25 hijacking of the Ukrainian ship MV Faina, which was carrying tanks and other heavy weaponry.
NATO, India and Russia are sending warships to the area to help U.S. navy vessels already patrolling the region. Several European countries have said they would launch an anti-piracy patrol.
The IMB welcomed the increased patrol but warned it may be impossible to safeguard the entire area given its long coast line.
Noel Choong, who heads the IMB piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said stronger pre-emptive measures including intercepting pirates' mother ships, are necessary to curb the menace.
"As long as there are no strong deterrents, the pirate attacks will continue," he said, adding that it was up to the world community to find ways to stop the menace.
Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, has been impoverished by decades of conflict, and piracy by Somali gangs has emerged as a lucrative racket that brings in millions of dollars in ransoms.
