Somalia reported zero piracy incidents in 2019, a trend that continued through the beginning of 2020. However, Somali pirates continue to possess the capacity to carry out attacks in the Somali basin and wider Indian Ocean.įollowing an active 2019, there has been no let-up in piracy in 2020. This is despite the recent success in tackling Somali pirates. In 2019, there were still 162 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide, down from 201 in 2018. Piracy remains a major risk for shipping.

“Hijackings by Somalian pirates may have reduced for now, but incidents have been increasing in West Africa and parts of Asia, where we see a worrying pattern of violent attacks against crew, as well as kidnappings.”

We thought we had a handle on it but it has manifested yet again,” says Captain Rahul Khanna, Global Head of Marine Risk Consulting at AGCS. The Gulf of Guinea accounted for 90% of global kidnappings reported at sea in 2019 with the number of crew taken increasing by more than 50% to 121, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

The incident followed the kidnapping of nine crew from the tanker Alpine Penelope in the same area in February 2020. While at the Cotonou Anchorage, Benin, the 4,785 teu Singapore-owned vessel was boarded by pirates and eight crew were kidnapped. In April 2020, the Portugal-flagged container ship Tommi Ritscher became the latest vessel attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.

Somali pirate waters