by Jamaica Rose
Modern pirates also go after huge cargo ships and oil tankers. These ships often have just a handful of crewmembers, so it’s not too hard to overcome them. Large ships and their crews have been held for huge ransoms. Sometimes these large ships just disappear—perhaps into pirate-friendly ports. There they are repainted, modified, and given new registry numbers.
People debate whether honest crews should carry weapons to fight against boarders. Some claim if weapons are present, attackers will get hold of them and use them against the crew. There are many nonviolent ways to repel attacks. Cargo ships and cruise liners often use strong blasts of water from fire hoses, ear-splitting barrages of sounds, electric fences, and motion-activated spotlights.
Piracy Reporting Centre:
The International Chamber of Commerce keeps records of modern pirate attacks. At their Commercial Crime Services website, you can view a Live Piracy Map (which shows all pirate reports for the current year), find archived maps for recent years, and read posted reports at their Piracy Reporting Centre. For more go to http://www.icc-ccs.org/
Many of the current pirates are land-based. They often have crooked local officials giving them support or at least ignoring what they are doing. Organized crime gangs are often involved.
As in times past, areas with complex coastlines, shallow deltas, swampy shorelines, and/or lots of small islands are places where it is easy for pirates to lie in wait and disappear again.
In the 1990s, pirates were out of control in the Strait of Malacca. For quite a few years, authorities could not put a stop to them. Then the local governments got organized and worked together to outsmart the pirates. Since then, piracy has greatly declined in the Strait of Malacca. But just as the flames of one hotspot are put out, another hotspot flares up.
The current hotbed of piracy is in waters off the coast of Somalia. With no central government and severe poverty, conditions in Somalia have been ripe for pirates to thrive. The Gulf of Aden borders the north coast of Somalia. This entrance to the Suez Canal is nicknamed “Pirate Alley” due to the large amount of pirate activity. This is the same area where pirates Thomas Tew, Henry Every, and William Kidd made their famous captures in the late 1600s and early 1700s..
Like the Treasure Fleets of the Spanish Main, many ships going through the Gulf of Aden are traveling in small fleets with armed escorts.
Other current piracy hotspots include Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, the Indian Ocean, West African coasts along the Gulf of Guinea, and Tanzania.
Piracy is still common in the South China Sea, where many of today’s pirates are descendants of the famous Chinese pirates Koxinga and Cheng I, who were active from the 1600s to the 1800s.
Cap’n Michael says:
In this modern world, it’s nice to know that good, old-fashioned family businesses are still going strong.
Image Credits
Becker, Richard, original art by: 21, 49, 53, 161, 174, 186, [modified] 207
Dover Publications, Inc.: (pub. 2003) 29, 152, 193, 215; (pub. 1970) 176, 177, 180, 197
Gibbs Smith, Publisher: [scroll*] 5, [sea] 11–24, [flag: movie camera icon*] 34, [scroll/footsteps*] 94, [flag: chef’s hat icon*] 164
Lampe, Christine Markel** (Jamaica Rose), original art by: [skull icon*] 4 (right), [corner art*] 8, 9 (upper left), 17, 26, 38, [small scroll*] 50, 58, [name scroll*] 63, 70 (lower), 77 (lower), 78, 79, 80 (upper 3 images), 81, 82–83, 84–85, [large scroll*] 98, [skull/notes*] 111, 124, 127–28, [medium scroll*] 171, 183, [3 skulls] 189; [private collection of] 5, 13 (upper), 22, 33, 136, 168, 169
Lampe, Michael** (Captain Michael MacLeod): [skull/crossbones*] 3, 9 (lower left), 80 (lower), [photos by] 84–85, [photo modified by] 86
Library of Congress, courtesy of: [sloop] 2, 12, 20 (lower right), 24, 57, 92, 155, 157, 158, 173
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, courtesy of: 154
Maitz, Don: [illustration] 9, [cropped illustration*] 11
No Quarter Given, courtesy of: 19, 64, 67, 77 (upper), 108, 124, 138–40, 142–44, 146, 195, 205
Public Domain: [cannon] 2 (2 images), 4 (left), 5, 12, 13 (2 images), 16 (right), 20, 22, 24, 32, 33, 40, 42, 57, 63, 65, 66, 92, 134, 136, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157 (2 images), 158 (2 images), 168, 169, 173, 196, 202
Reyes, Gerard, original art by, 68, 69, 70 (upper)
Whittam, Arthur, photograph by: [modified by Michael Lampe] 86
For further information on images in public domain and courtesy of the Library of Congress, please contact the authors.
* scattered throughout book
** authors