The London-based International Maritime Bureau set up a piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur in 1992. It was established because there was no single point for ships’ masters to contact in the event they came under attack. They have had quite a bit of success in helping the fight against piracy. They produce an annual and quarterly piracy report which is available to anyone who cares to sign up for it.
Their latest report shows a welcome drop in the number of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia. This was largely due to the increased presence of several nations’ navies to protect the commercial vessels passing through that area, as well as more shipping companies hiring professionals to protect their vessels.
In fact, the total number of reported cases of piracy fell from 178 in the first six months of 2012 to 133 in the first six months of 2013. However, during this period, Southeast Asia had the most number of reported cases although most of these occurred in ports and anchorages along the coast of Indonesia and were minor in nature. There were four cases reported in the Singapore Straits and just one case in the Malacca Straits.
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