The fight against Somali pirates has been so successful that there have not been any pirate hijackings in nearly a year. The United Nations chair of the global group has been attempting to combat pirates and has finally done so successfully.
U.S. diplomat Donna Leigh Hopkins states the successful fight against pirates comes from efforts of international naval forces and recently security on ships has been improved specifically noting the use of armed guards.
Another factor that has combatted Somali piracy was the jailing of some 1,140 Somali pirate in 21 countries "which started deglamorizing piracy," she said.
Somali pirate attacks were rampant from 2009 to 2011. Somali pirates hijacked 46 ships in 2009, 47 in 2010, but only 25 in 2011, an indication that new on-board defenses were working.
The International Maritime Bureau reported that in 2012, there were just 75 attacks reported off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. This number was significantly down from the reported 237 attacks in 2011. And of the 75 attacks in 2012, only 14 ships were successfully hijacked.
Hopkins told the Associated Press, "There are still pirate attacks being attempted but there has not been a successful hijacking since May 2012." She continued, "May 12 will be the one year anniversary of no successful hijacking off the coast of Somalia."
Danish Ambassador, Thomas Winkler, following a meeting at the U.N. on Wednesday discussed the significant number of Somali pirates now in custody and how the jailing seems to have a significant effect on overall piracy.
"The number of active pirates is perhaps 3,000," Winkler said. "So if you put a thousand behind bars, and 300-400 die every year at sea from hunger (or) drowning ... you will quickly come down" in numbers.
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