Do Yachts Have To Worry About Pirates?

The International Maritime Bureau praised Indonesia’s efforts to combat piracy in its July 2016 report, which saw incidents in the region fall by 56% compared to January-June 2016. In the yachting world, self-defense has become an offensive strategy, with yachts like Roman Abramovich’s 533-foot Eclipse and Your yacht being easy targets for pirates due to their low surface height and high production costs.

To keep yachts safe, nonlethal anti-piracy tools such as security smoke and water cannons are being used. To deter pirates, yacht owners should fit bunk fans and keep cabin hatches shut in areas they believe could be a problem, such as the Caribbean. Secret escape pods, hidden armed panic rooms, and non-lethal weapons are among the top 10 products being used to deter pirates and unwelcome guests.

Despite the growing plague of Somali piracy, over 130 private yachts have sailed the Indian Ocean this year. It is important for yachts to know the most susceptible areas on board and how to protect them. Larger yachts hire armed security guards, but larger yachts should avoid known pirate areas.

Pirates are still a major issue worldwide, impacting people traveling by boat in both coastal and international waters. While Somali pirates are not as dangerous as they used to be, the risk of piracy still exists, not only along the coast of Somalia but also in other countries. Yachtsmen remain an easy target for attacks as they are considered low risk to pirates and can attract high ransoms as hostages. Flotillas are no real protection against piracy unless at least one of the flotillas is armed.

Do pirates ever attack yachts?

Yachts are intrinsically more vulnerable to pirate attacks, so it’s important to know the most susceptible areas on board and how to protect them.

Are pirates a concern for cruise ships?

Pirates remain a real threat in certain regions, posing challenges for cruise ships navigating these waters. Over the years, cruise lines have developed extensive measures to protect passengers and crew from potential pirate attacks, ensuring a safe and secure journey.

While there have been only a few reported incidents over the past decade, the cruise industry takes the risk seriously. Cruise ships implement rigorous safety procedures and deploy advanced technologies to mitigate threats and safeguard passengers.

Safety procedures on cruise ships. Cruise ships enact various safety protocols to enhance security when sailing through pirate-prone waters. These measures include:

Are ships still attacked by pirates?

The current rate of attacks is significantly less, with the pirates primarily targeting smaller vessels in less patrolled waters, maritime risk managers and insurers said. Since November, they have successfully seized at least two cargo ships and 12 fishing vessels, according to EUNAVFOR data.

How do yachts protect themselves from pirates?

Ship’s fire hoses or special Anti-piracy fire hoses are often used to fight pirates trying to board the ships. These high pressure water hoses are extremely powerful and effective to fight pirates. Special anti-piracy fire hoses also come with semi-automatic and remote control system.

Technically not a hi-tech anti-piracy weapon, Molotov cocktail has been used by crew of a few merchant ships which were not provided with anti-piracy weapons or armed guards. Molotov cocktail can be made on ships using empty glass bottles, flammable substance such as gasoline, and source of ignition such as burning cloth wick. It can be thrown on an approaching pirate boat to set it ablaze and disturb their maneuverability.

If pirates do get on board ships, crew and ship’s cargo can be protected using tasers – a non-lethal weapon which delivers an electric shock that temporarily causes the pirates to lose neuro muscular control. The device can definitely used as the last resort to protect the ship’s crew from pirates.

Can ships carry guns to fight pirates?

In international waters Merchant ships are governed by the state regulations of the flag that they’re flying. If the flag state permits. They can carry weapons.

Can ships defend themselves against pirates?

Yes. Some cruise ships and container ships carry weapons for self defense from pirates especially if they travel anyway were near the coast of Somalia or Indonesia.

Is the Caribbean safe from pirates?

The most recently published CSSN annual report contains details and analyses of reported crimes against crews and yachts in the Caribbean in 2022. The total number of reported crimes has increased significantly compared to 2021 and is now similar to the level before the coronavirus pandemic. There has been a significant increase in violent crime, with assaults and robberies taking centre stage. Cases of piracy have decreased.

Photo: CSSNMap of reported offences (red = violent)

The total number of reported offences in 2022 rose from 102 to 121, an increase of 19%. Violent incidents, in particular assaults/robberies, rose significantly from 7 to 12 (+72%). In terms of numbers, this is offset by a decrease in reported and suspected cases of piracy from 5 to 3 (-40%). The violent activities in the Caribbean were concentrated in St Lucia, while the incidents overall were widely dispersed. St Vincent and the Grenadines again took the top position (26 reports, 1 act of violence), followed by Martinique (17 reports, 1 act of violence), Panama (10 reports, 1 act of violence), St Lucia (10 reports, 5 acts of violence), the Dutch Sint Maarten (8 reports, no acts of violence) and the French St Martin (7 reports, no acts of violence).

How to avoid pirates while sailing?

• Select your route with care:. Avoid known problem areas, understanding that pirate vessels may be using radar to find/track you. Choose your route carefully. Consider the lunar cycle in your passage planning, moonless nights can be your friend. Some choose to travel “dark” without any visible lights, this poses its own set of risks.
• Maintain a good watch – the ability to detect possible pirates as early as possible and before they approach closely may give you a chance to evade or outrun them. Use all the tools you have. Know how to use your radar tracking feature. AIS (receive) will allow you to identify possible “friendlies” in advance if there any are nearby. Maintain a rigorous visual watch (full 360-degree scan, maximum 20-minute cycle). If you are traveling with other yachts, utilize regular (more private) MMSI communications.

• If you feel you are being followed:. Alter course in an unusual or unpredictable way and monitor the suspect vessels course changes.
• Establish VHF radio contact with any AIS or radar identified vessels nearby, then agree and switch to HF if possible, understanding that the pirates may be monitoring these transmissions as well. Detail your concern and your vessels particulars.
• Activate DSC and satellite trackers (InReach, Delorme etc.), if closely approached.
• Take a picture of the possible pirate vessel, even if it is long range. Advise any confederates that you have done so. If the pirates are listening they may reconsider. Remove your cameras media or transfer the photos to a digital stick and protect it in a well concealed but predetermined location.
• Go to MAYDAY mode if you believe you will be rammed or boarded. Use VHF and HF, having preprogrammed the USCG distress frequencies and any satellite communications you have. Assign this responsibility to a crew member who is already well familiar with their operation. Consider activating your EPIRB.
• The threat of serious violence and major damage by ramming is significant in these types of piracy events.

• If the worst happens:. Do not resist the pirates. Assemble your crew in an area where they can keep watch over each other. Cooperate, make it easy for them to take what they want (which will encourage and speed their departure). Give up your wallets and the sacrificial stash(s). Expect for your radios to be taken/disabled.
• Attempt to limit the numbers of pirates who get below (may not be possible).
• After they have left, assess and treat any injuries or damage to the boat. Retrieve your well concealed permanent backup stash. Re-establish contact with anyone you were able to reach beforehand, if possible. Then, make a full report on arrival, to authorities, your consulate and CSSN.

How often do ships get taken over by pirates?

Piracy attack rates have fallen sharply: From 2000 to 2014, IMB was reporting between 300 and 500 pirate attacks per year. The 115 attacks in 2022 were the lowest in its records, down nearly 75% from the 439 reported in 2012. The largest reason for this drop is the near-elimination of attacks off the Horn of Africa, after the suppression of Somalia’s industrial-scale pirate fleet by an international naval consortium, Combined Task Force 151, between 2012 and 2015. Attacks in Southeast Asia and West Africa, always more opportunistic and smaller scale than the Somali pirate industry, have also declined.

High-seas piracy accounts for about 40% of all pirate attacks: Somalia’s pirate industry involved large-scale organized attacks on high-seas shipping passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait (separating Yemen and Somalia) and the Gulf of Aden, aiming to take control of the targeted vessels, sell their cargoes, and hold their crews for ransom. This involvedoperations far offshore, in which pirate gangs usedconverted fishery vessels to carry fleets of speedboats for attacks on ships using automatic weapons. The typical current attack is much less ambitious, usually involving an opportunistic effort by a small group, often with knives rather than guns, to rob a ship at anchor or sailing close to shore. IMB’s count through October included 51 attacks on ships either anchored offshore or berthed at a dock, and 37 en route. Thirty of these 37 high-seas attacks took place in the Singapore Strait, and three involved actual hijackings – up from one hijacking each in 2021 and 2022m but still far below the 49 hijackings of 2012. A sample report from IMB two weeks ago describes a standard 2023 attack:

22.11.2023: 2135 UTC: Posn: 01:43.20N – 101:26.72E, Dumai Anchorage, Indonesia.Four robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored tanker. They threatened and took hostage the duty AB while the OS managed to escape and inform the Duty Officer. Alarm raised and crew mustered. Seeing the crew alertness, the perpetrators escaped empty handed.

Where are you most likely to encounter pirates?

Most pirate-infested waters. Piracy is an international phenomenon, not bound to any particular region. There are, however, factors that make piracy flourish in certain parts of the world. Poor coastal areas with few economic opportunities, low literacy rates, weak governments, and the rule of law, as well as easy access to weapons and proximity to busy shipping lanes give rise to more pirate activity than other areas. A prime example of such an area is Somalia, which was considered a piracy hotspot between the 1990s and 2010s. It was only after a concerted international effort led by the UN to combat Somali piracy that the number of piracy attacks off of the Somali coast dropped dramatically in the late 2010s. Nowadays, most pirate attacks are committed in the Singapore Straits and off the coast of Peru. In 2021, 35 pirate attacks were carried out against ships in the Singapore Straits and 18 attacks against ships in the Peruvian waters. Although piracy can be carried out by people to secure livelihood, more often than not it is a way for militant groups and criminal gangs to raise money for their activities.

Uptake in piracy during the COVID-19 pandemic. After peaking in 2010 and 2011, global attempted and actual attacks reached a record low in 2019. However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to a rise in pirate activity in 2020. The global number of actual and attempted piracy attacks increased by 20 percent in 2020, from 162 piracy incidents in 2019 to 195 incidents in 2020. Not only have been presumably more people left with fewer opportunities to secure a living but weak economic conditions have left governments with fewer resources to battle piracy. In 2021, however, the number of pirate attacks dropped to 132, the lowest amount on record.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

Which ship is most likely to be attacked by pirates?

… The three main types of vessels facing the highest risk of pirate attacks were found to be product tankers, chemical tankers, and bulk carriers. As for the impacts of pirate attacks on the crew, it was found that crew members could be taken hostage and kidnapped for ransom, of which the probability of the former is five times that of the latter. Marchione et al. examined global data gathered by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on piracy incidents worldwide by employing the methods originally developed to detect disease contagion….

Maritime transportation is vital for the movement of cargo between different continents and distant locations but can be disrupted by the frequent occurrence of pirate attacks. Based on the pirate attacks from July 1994 to December 2019, a spatial analysis of pirate attacks using a Geographic Information System (GIS) was conducted in the present study using the data available for tankers, dry bulk carriers, container vessels, general cargo vessels, and tugs. The adoption of the kernel density analysis was intended to identify the spatial pattern of global pirate attacks. The research results demonstrated that the pirate attacks showed a clustering pattern and were mostly associated with areas experiencing economic depression, a high unemployment rate, and social unrest. Accordingly, spatiotemporal hot spot analysis was carried out to recognize the changing directions of cold spots and hot spots over a period of time. The waters off Somalia, the Strait of Malacca, the Philippines, the Bay of Bengal, the Gulf of Guinea, and the northwest of South America were found to be the common locations of pirate attacks. The cold and hot spots of pirate attacks on the three key vessel types, including tankers, dry bulk carriers, and container vessels, were found to be similar. When considering the same area, the trends of cold and hot spots of different vessel types being attacked were substantially different. This study can provide a useful guideline for the International Maritime Organization and other relevant organizations in the world to design and implement targeted strategies to combat and mitigate pirate attacks. Additionally, the introduction of a GIS may help to envision the spatial and temporal distribution of pirate attacks and to explore the characteristics of pirate behaviors at sea and the patterns of piracy.

… The unavailable of empirical data on the nature of relationship between maritime piracy and sea robbery attacks and the cargo throughput performance of the Nigerian ports, following the attacks against cargo ships of various kinds needs to be ascertained as justification for prompt remedial actions against attacks on cargo ships trading in Nigerian maritime domain. The works of supports the position of the Frustration-Aggression Theory (FAT), in which human frustration may lead to aggressive behavior and/or violence. Reference agrees that frustration ultimately leads to aggression, and aggression always implies that frustration has occurred at some previous time….

Where do you have to worry about pirates?

High risk areas for piracy. Whether you’re travelling by commercial vessel or private yacht, you should be aware of the risk of piracy in parts of the world. In particular: the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa.