134 People Kidnapped by Pirates Last Year... Highest in the Past 5 Years

Number of Pirate Incidents by Region.

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Last year, the number of crew kidnappings by pirates worldwide reached 134, marking the largest scale in the past five years.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 31st the '2019 Global Pirate Incident Trends' report containing this information.

Last year, the total number of pirate incidents worldwide was 162, a 19.4% decrease compared to 2018 (201 cases). This decline was due to fewer incidents in the major pirate hotspots of the West Africa waters (82→67 cases) and the Asia region (85→62 cases).

However, the most concerning type of pirate damage, 'crew kidnapping,' significantly increased, continuing its upward trend. The number of victims by year was ▲2015: 19 → ▲2016: 62 ▲2017: 75 ▲2018: 83 ▲2019: 134. In particular, last year, 121 crew members were kidnapped in the West Africa waters alone, requiring special caution when navigating this area.

Analyzing pirate incidents (134 cases) by ship operation status, 60.5% (81 cases) occurred while anchored. The main pirate incident locations during anchoring were Nigeria (12 cases), Indonesia (11 cases), Cameroon (4 cases), Mozambique (3 cases), and Congo (2 cases).

In the Somalia and Gulf of Aden waters, pirate attacks were nonexistent due to the efforts of the Cheonghae Unit and allied navies; however, in other East African waters, four pirate incidents occurred, including three in Mozambique and one in Kenya. In the Asian waters where the Abu Sayyaf Group operates, 62 pirate incidents occurred in 2019, a 27.1% decrease from 2018 (85 cases). However, in the Southeast Asia region, the number of crew kidnapping victims more than doubled (5→13), and pirate attacks in the Singapore Strait sharply increased compared to 2018 (3→12 cases).

Ko Jun-sung, Director of Maritime Safety Management at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Although the total number of pirate incidents worldwide decreased in 2019, kidnapping damages significantly increased, so more thorough vigilance is necessary," adding, "The government will continue to cooperate with related agencies, organizations, and shipping companies to prevent pirate damages."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.