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More pirates than ever Piracy continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, especially in Asia. The big resurgence has come in just the last few years, however, according to statistics gathered by the International Maritime Bureau, which even displays a live piracy map on its Web site to highlight recent attacks. The waters off Somalia and Indonesia are considered the most active for modern pirates, who are heavily armed and often more interested in the large stores of cash held aboard cargo ships rather than the cargo itself. Like the pirates of old, these modern-day buccaneers have taken advantage of areas where law enforcement is sparse. In Somalia, the situation has become so dangerous that in July of this year, the UN Security Council passed a resolution allowing international navies to interfere in the region with “all necessary means” to repress piracy. Pirates holding ships off Somalia are demanding ransom in the millions in exchange for the release of the hostage crews. Pirates now holding a Ukrainian arms ship have threatened to blow up the vessel if the ransom is not paid, with U.S. warships surrounding them to ensure the weapons aren’t unloaded. A NATO flotilla of seven ships is on the way to the area to protect both merchant and food aid ships from future pirate operations.
