The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes IMB as saying in a statement released in Lagos on that the sharp rise was driven by a surge in piracy off the Coast of Somalia.
It said that 97 attacks were recorded off the Coast of Somalia in the first quarter of 2011, up from 35 recorded in corresponding period in 2010.
“Worldwide, in the first quarter of 2011, 18 vessels were hijacked, 344 crew members were taken hostage and six were kidnapped.”
According to the bureau, 45 vessels were boarded and 45 other vessels were reported fired upon.
“Figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past three months are higher than we’ve ever recorded in the first quarter of any past year, ” Capt. Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB, was quoted as saying.
The IMB report said that in the first three months of 2011, pirates murdered seven crew members and injured 34.
It said that out of the 18 ships hijacked in the first three months of the year, 15 were captured off the coast of Somalia, two in and around the Arabian Sea and one in the Gulf of Aden.
IMB figures also showed that Somali pirates were holding captive 596 crew members of 28 ships as at March 31 2011.
“We are seeing a dramatic increase in the violence and techniques used by pirates in the sea off Somalia,” Mukunda said.
IMB’s piracy reporting centre is the only centre receiving reports of pirate attacks 24 hours daily from across the globe and has been monitoring sea piracy worldwide since 1991.
This article was posted by MaritimeSecurity.Asia. To find out more visit www.MaritimeSecurity.Asia
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