Insurance aspects of maritime piracy

The escalation of violence at sea is increasingly affecting maritime transport and logistics. According to observations by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the number of pirate attacks rose from 239 in 2006 to as many as 445 in 2010. By July 22, 2011, there had already been 292 pirate incidents, with 20 ships being held, mostly along with hostages. Analyzing IMB statistics from 2010, it can be observed that about 75% of all pirate attacks were carried out in eight locations currently considered the most critical areas, which include: Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, Indonesia, the South China Sea, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Malaysia, and the Red Sea.A particular intensification of pirate attacks can be observed in the region of Somalia, where only 10 were recorded in 2006, and as many as 139 in 2010. This is an even more alarming phenomenon, as it concerns one of the most intensively used shipping routes (via the Suez Canal). Ransom demands are an inherent element of pirate attacks. In 2010, pirates released 21 ships for a total ransom amount of approximately 75 million USD.
In 2009, a ship remained in the hands of pirates for an average of 82 days, with the shortest being 3 days and the longest as many as 214 days. In that same year, the value of the lowest disclosed ransom was 100,000 USD, while the highest was 4 million USD.
In 2010, ransom rates increased significantly. For a ship released in January 2010 (…)

Insurance aspects of maritime piracy – PDF file for download