Business Booms

For now, at least, the maritime security firms and their armed guards appear to be winning the war on piracy — and earning millions.

Pirate Attacks Down as Private Maritime Security Business Booms
By Dan Harris and Dan Lieberman, ABC News

In the Indian Ocean, home to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, a war rages between Somali pirates, who have attacked 800 ships and taken 3,400 hostages in the past four years, and private security firms, some run by Americans, that are deploying an increasing number of heavily armed guards aboard those ships.

For now, at least, the security firms and their armed guards appear to be winning the war — and earning millions.

Since 2008, pirates operating off East Africa have successfully hijacked 170 ships, costing the global economy as much as $12 billion per year, killing dozens of hostages and holding the ships and their crews for ransoms of up to $9.5 million. At least 11 vessels and 188 hostages are still being held by pirates, and a hostage held for two years was executed just a week ago when his ship’s owners failed to pay his ransom quickly enough.

However, in the past two years, the pirates have run into trouble. While the number of attempted pirate attacks peaked in 2011, according to the International Maritime Bureau, the number of successful attacks began to fall, from 49 ships in 2010 to 28 ships in 2011. This year, the number of attempts has plunged as well. The first six months of 2012 saw a 60 percent reduction in attacks, down to 69 incidents from 163 incidents during the same period in 2011.

In fact, since June, there has not been one successful pirate attack in the waters off East Africa, marking the longest stretch of peaceful transit through the region since piracy began to mount a decade ago .

The reasons, according to observers, are the increased presence of……[access full article]