Piracy Alert.

• Jurisdiction: Derecho Internacional
• Author: DILLON, DANA R.
• Date: 01 September 2000

Attacks against commercial ships have tripled. It's time to stop this growing barrier to maritime trade.

Piracy is back. And as in the days of Blackbeard, the piracy onslaught hinders international trade. Acts of maritime piracy range from the classic boarding and hijacking a merchant vessel on the high seas to stealing from a ship while it is anchored in port. Reported attacks against commercial ships have tripled over the past decade, increasing last year alone by 40 percent. Nearly two-thirds of the attacks in 1999 occurred in the pirate-infested waters of Asia. With 90 percent of the world's trade moving via ship and 45 percent of all shipping moving through Asian waters, piracy is becoming an increasing threat to global trade.

The United States is the world's largest trading nation. America's reliance on trade makes any attack on ships in foreign waters or ports, especially those of its trading partners, a maritime concern. Although today's pirates target their victims in ways that limit a direct U.S. response, several steps can be taken to assist other nations in improving their ability to combat piracy and reduce the threat.

MODERN MARITIME PIRACY

Today, 72 percent of all attacks on merchant vessels are committed while the ship is berthed or anchored in port, and most of the attacks on vessels at sea occur in a country's territorial waters. The targets of an attack are usually the contents of the ship's stores and safe and the valuables of its crew. Stealing a ship or its primary cargo on the high seas represents only a small portion of the reported crimes.

Almost all reported acts of piracy involve armed intruders who threaten and often injure, kidnap, or kill members of the crew. Today's pirates appear to be a...