Maritime crime levels drop, but threats remain real

LAST year maritime piracy and armed robbery attacks reached their lowest recorded levels since 1994, said the annual piracy report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Similarly positive news has come from the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). In its annual report, ReCAAP's Information Sharing Centre (ISC) noted a 15 per cent decrease in total number of piracy and sea robbery incidents in Asia for 2021.

That does not, of course, mean pirates and robbers around the world have suddenly started to see the light, go straight and take up honest employment. They are still active at sea and in ports around the globe. To put the good news into perspective, last year, 57 crew members were kidnapped in 7 separate incidents off West Africa.