Somali pirates and the HRA

Now the shipping industry and navies face difficult choices.

Somali piracy: Redrawing the boundaries

By Tim Hart, Control Risks

LONDON – From 1 December 2015, the shipping industry’s ‘high risk area’ off Somalia was reduced in size. The redrawing of the boundaries, announced in October 2015, followed a significant drop in armed attacks and hijacks in the north-western Indian Ocean. Somali piracy in 2015 reached around 1% of the levels seen at its height in 2011.

Yet a month after the announcement was made, the pirates reminded the industry of their continued potency, reportedly seizing a fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean more than 200 nautical miles from the coast. While the reduction of the high risk area was designed to symbolise the success of counter-piracy measures, those opposed argue that reducing security measures could encourage groups to launch more such attacks.

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Source: forbes.com