Update on Piracy

This is a very interesting link to a piracy timeline at Lloyds. Also worth noting, the lawfare of piracy may get interesting as human rights groups target the Kenyan legal system established to fight piracy.

I don't mean to be a jinx, but we should be giving a ton of credit to international naval forces off the Horn of Africa as well as shipping companies that have acted to protect ships and crews. While the weather has certainly been the primary factor prohibiting pirate activity in the area, the international naval forces policing the area are also a major contributing factor. In July of 2009 there were 2 vessels fired upon and 2 vessels hijacked. In August of 2009 there have been 4 vessels fire upon, and no hijackings off the Horn of Africa.

For perspective, it is important to remember that 2009 is already a worse year for piracy than all of 2008, but the vast majority of pirate activity in 2008 occurred beginning in September. We are about to find out what the impact of violence in Somalia has had on the activity of piracy, and get a much better sense of how effective the international naval forces operating off the Horn of Africa is in curbing piracy.

For those who are following the legal activities related to Somalia piracy and EU policies, this is a very interesting read.