In 2024, there were two recorded ship piracy and armed robbery incidents in Vietnam. In total, there were 85 actual and 11 attempted incidents during that period in Southeast Asia.

In 2024, the number of pirate attacks against ships worldwide decreased compared with the previous year. While 120 ships were attacked by pirates in 2023, the number of ships attacked dropped to 116 in 2024. Pirate attacks Although the term “pirate” may conjure up images of bearded men with eye patches, wooden legs and parrots who were convicted and buried centuries ago, pirate attacks are indeed posing a threat to today’s shipping lines all over the world. Contemporary maritime piracy reached its peak level in 2010, with around 445 reported incidents. The regions most likely to come under threat from pirate attacks include Indonesia, the Malaysia, and Nigeria. Here, pirates are attracted by the abundance of natural resources in the countries themselves or in adjacent areas. Strategic passages for oil transport such as Bab-el-Mandeb, near Somalia, or the Strait of Malacca off the Indonesian coast have become notorious targets for maritime crime. In 2013, oil tankers shipped 15.2 million barrels of oil per day through the Strait of Malacca; this exceeds the daily volume of oil imported into the whole of the European Union. With oil prices hovering around 70 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2018, the hijacking of a crude oil tanker sounds like a promising deal for pirates. In 2017, Venezuela was thrust into the limelight: Here, the number of incidents rose from five to 12 between 2016 and 2017. It is often the crew and the pirates themselves who pay most dearly for maritime crime. In Somali waters, at least 149 crew members were held hostage in 2011, and over 100 pirates were killed - mostly by naval forces such as armed guards, who are increasingly seen to be of central importance to the protection of merchant ships.

The year 2024 saw 107 ship piracy and armed robbery incidents across Asia. This was a significant decrease from 2015, when there were over two hundred incidents of ship piracy and armed robberies throughout Asia. Asia accounted for just over half of the pirate attacks worldwide in 2024. Reasons behind piracy and armed robbery The number of ship piracy and armed robbery attacks has fluctuated from the onset of 2010. Likely reasons for the differing numbers can be attributed to a lack of law enforcement on the seas and in some cases, social and political unrest in certain regions. Pirate attacks are defined as those which take place outside the jurisdiction of a state, those inside are classed as armed robberies. Piracy and armed robbery attacks on ships have been viewed as opportunistic raids, in which the perpetrator usually witnesses valuable goods being loaded on board a ship and attempts to steal them. An increase in incidents Although piracy and armed robbery incidents were seen to decrease in 2019, the rate increased once again in 2020. It is thought that the outbreak of the coronavirus sparked an increase of incidents, as economic hardship could have been a motivation for people to perform criminal acts. The Southeast Asian region had the highest number of attempted and actual piracy attacks worldwide in 2024. Of these, most of the incidents which occurred while ships were underway were located on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), a common route for commercial shipments which is located between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Maritime piracy constitutes a major threat to global shipping and international trade. We argue that fishers turn to piracy to smooth income losses and to deter illegal foreign fishing fleets. Previous investigations have generally focused on cross-national determinants of the incidence of piracy in territorial waters. These investigations neglect piracy in international waters and ignore its spatial dependence, whereby pirate attacks cluster in certain locations due to neighborhood and spillover effects. We conduct a geographically disaggregated analysis using geo-referenced data of piracy and its covariates between 2005 and 2014. We demonstrate that the incidence of piracy in a particular location is associated with higher catch volumes from high-bycatch and habitat-destroying fishing, even when controlling for conditions in proximate coastal areas. We find, additionally, that illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing exerts an especially pronounced effect on piracy. These findings highlight the need for anti-piracy solutions beyond enforcement to include the policing of fishing practices that are illegal or are perceived by local fishers in vulnerable coastal areas to be harmful to small-scale fishing economies.

Unprocessed csv file of the piracy dataset.

Introduction

Piracy Statistics: When you hear the word piracy, what comes to your mind first? Maybe a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean, or someone downloading a movie from a shady site. But piracy today is much more than sea robbers or just file downloads from third-party websites. It’s a global issue that steals billions of dollars every year, risks people’s lives on the seas, and impacts creators, businesses, and even us a everyday consumers.

In this article, I’ve gone deep into the actual numbers, stories, and technologies behind this massive problem. From hijackings in the Singapore Strait to anime piracy in Japan, the data reveals just how widespread and dangerous modern piracy has become. These piracy statistics aren’t just figures; they’re signs of what’s changing in our digital and global world. And if you’ve ever streamed a show, installed cracked software, or read a leaked comic, this is a reality worth understanding. And what the numbers are telling us.

*** The funding for the Anti-shipping Activity Messages (ASAM) database ended in June 30, 2024; as a result we are no longer updating the ASAM database or the GIS data on our web page. The Office of Naval Intelligence does have PDF files of ASAM events on their Worldwide Threat to Shipping page - https://www.oni.navy.mil/ONI-Reports/Shipping-Threat-Reports/Worldwide-Threat-to-Shipping/ [oni.navy.mil]. *** pi·ra·cyThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines "Piracy" and: (a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State; (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft; (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).

Pirate attacks affect many different parties, including the flag state of the vessel that is attacked, the states of nationality of the crew members aboard the attacked vessel, the state from which the pirates originate, the state in whose waters (if any) the attack occurs, the states of the ship and cargo owners, and the states for which cargo on attacked vessels is destined. In addition to their immediate impacts on the vessels, individuals, and cargo involved in an attack, sustained episodes of piracy can affect international shipping rates (by leading to the diversion of cargoes to other shipping lanes) and lead to increases in insurance rates. Further, they can isolate those states from which the piracy is originating if vessels refuse to make port calls in those nations. Anti-shipping Activity Messages (ASAM) include the locations and descriptive accounts of specific hostile acts against ships and mariners. The reports may be useful for recognition, prevention and avoidance of potential hostile activity. This layer can be searched using ASAM reference number(s), sub region, or occurrence date(s). Each record includes the date of occurrence, an ASAM reference number, the number identifying the geographical subregion, the latitude and longitude of the geographical location, the aggressor if known, the type of vessel victimized, the name of the vessel victimized and a detailed description of the occurrence. Data are checked daily and updated accordingly : https://msi.nga.mil/Piracy Related Documents: United States Counter Piracy and Maritime Security Action Plan, Worldwide Threat to Shipping, Piracy: A Legal Definition, International Piracy on the High Seas

Processed Excel file of the piracy dataset cointaining 38 variables.

The number of attacks of the Somali coast fell dramatically to just ** in the eight-year period between 2016 and 2024. Piracy attacks in Somali waters peaked in 2011, when *** attacks were recorded, and incidents had soared to *** during the the five-year period between 2010 and 2015. This drop is widely regarded as a result of concerted efforts to reduce crimes at sea. Counter-piracy measures prove to be fruitfulIn light of growing numbers of oil tankers transiting the Gulf of Aden, crime began to spread from the streets of Mogadishu onto the waterways between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In recent times, freight forwarders have begun to reap the results of the extensive military and naval support that was provided by the international community in response to spiking incidents of maritime crime. However, piracy-related violence has not fully been eradicated, but has rather shifted from the Horn of Africa to the American territorial waters and Southeast Asian waters. In 2024, the most perilous territorial waters for ships included the waterways of Singapore, Peru, and Indonesia.

All Iinternational Maritime Organization text reports for the period of 2010 to 2021.

The Maritime Anti-Piracy Systems market is an essential segment of the global maritime industry, encompassing a wide range of technologies and strategies designed to protect vessels, cargo, and personnel from the threats posed by piracy. As the shipping industry faces a resurgence in maritime piracy incidents, parti

This is a subset of Anti Shipping Activity Messages for the Pacific Region. pi·ra·cyThe United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines "Piracy" and: (a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State; (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft; (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).Pirate attacks affect many different parties, including the flag state of the vessel that is attacked, the states of nationality of the crew members aboard the attacked vessel, the state from which the pirates originate, the state in whose waters (if any) the attack occurs, the states of the ship and cargo owners, and the states for which cargo on attacked vessels is destined. In addition to their immediate impacts on the vessels, individuals, and cargo involved in an attack, sustained episodes of piracy can affect international shipping rates (by leading to the diversion of cargoes to other shipping lanes) and lead to increases in insurance rates. Further, they can isolate those states from which the piracy is originating if vessels refuse to make port calls in those nations.Anti-shipping Activity Messages (ASAM) include the locations and descriptive accounts of specific hostile acts against ships and mariners. The reports may be useful for recognition, prevention and avoidance of potential hostile activity.This layer can be searched using ASAM reference number(s), sub region, or occurrence date(s). Each record includes the date of occurrence, an ASAM reference number, the number identifying the geographical subregion, the latitude and longitude of the geographical location, the aggressor if known, the type of vessel victimized, the name of the vessel victimized and a detailed description of the occurrence.Data are checked daily and updated accordingly : https://msi.nga.mil/PiracyRelated Documents: United States Counter Piracy and Maritime Security Action Plan, Worldwide Threat to Shipping, Piracy: A Legal Definition, International Piracy on the High Seas

Local spatial autocorrelation of piracy by maritime region.

Maritime piracy event descriptions from the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau

Accessing the dataset

• SPARQL query form
• No dereferenceable URIs for the RDF data

In 2023, there was *** recorded ship piracy and armed robbery attempts in Asia, indicating a decrease from **** attempts compared to the previous year. Comparatively, there were ** recorded ship piracy and armed robbery attempts in Asia in 2014.

Processed pickle file of the piracy dataset cointaining 38 variables.

Replication data

In 2024, the type of ship most attacked by pirates was a bulk carrier. That year, there were 50 attacks on bulk carriers recorded. Product tankers were targeted by pirates 14 times and container ships 11 times. Piracy around the world In 2024, Southeast Asia remained the region that recorded the largest number of piracy attacks. In the same year, Singapore straits were the main hotspot of piracy worldwide, followed by Peru. The most commonly used weapons are knives and guns. Africa is the new piracy hotspot Under current circumstances, piracy activity in Africa threatens not only international shipping companies but also the economic prospects of the continent. By damaging the credibility and stability of the affected countries, piracy imposes a great economic burden on the African economy. Trust is a necessary condition for international and local economic activities to prosper because investment decisions are made for an uncertain future. While the situation on the Gulf of Guinea keeps getting worse, the number of piracy and robbery incidents on the East African coasts dropped massively between 2017 and 2018. Pirate attacks do not only occur along the territorial waters of African countries, but also in international waters. For instance, in West African territories, roughly 51 percent of attacks were carried out in international waters in 2020.

In 2024, there were ten actual and attempted piracy attacks in Indonesia. Indonesia was the third most targeted country in terms of actual and attempted piracy attacks that year, surpassed by Peru and Singapore Straits. Piracy attacks in Indonesia Piracy attacks in Indonesian waters spiked in 2015, when 108 incidents were reported. One of the most obvious reasons why Southeast Asia’s largest economy has come under threat from maritime crime is the region’s abundance in natural gas and petroleum resources: In 2018, Indonesia was ranked among the world’s largest exporting countries of liquefied natural gas. Moreover, Indonesia’s other main export categories include electronic equipment, electrical appliances and garments. The merchant ships that carry these commodities and consumer goods may need to navigate through one of the world’s narrowest chokepoints: the Strait of Malacca. Predominantly a strategic passage for petroleum and natural gas transport, this trade route is also frequented by ocean freight haulers moving goods from the Persian Gulf to Japan, South Korea and China. As a result, the sea around the archipelago has become a prime target for armed robbery at sea, and recently the pirates have become increasingly successful in outsmarting naval forces by expanding their hunting grounds and moving towards open waters in the east or the along Sumatra’s fragmented coastline in the south. Due to the pirates’ good organization and versatility, incidents of maritime crime off the Indonesian coast increased sevenfold from 2009 to 2013. The surge in pirate attacks may trigger increased presence by the military forces of affected nations. After all, the costs of piracy inevitably result in higher insurance costs faced by forwarders, rising fuel costs due to higher speed in order to escape the criminals, ransom sums, as well as the growing outlays in wages and salary that need to be paid to armed personnel on ships.

In 2023, there were ** actual incidents of ship piracy and armed robbery in Asia, indicating an increase of almost ** actual incidents compared to the previous year. Comparatively, there were *** actual incidents of ship piracy and armed robbery in Asia in 2015.