Nigerian and Somalian Coasts Still the World's Most Dangerous

Nigerian and Somalian piracy and armed robbery attacks against ships rose 14% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2006.^[1] This is according to an International Maritime Bureau (IMB) report that asserted that this is the second consecutive quarterly increase in attacks.^[2]

In the first nine months of the year, 198 attacks were reported versus 174 attacks reported in 2006 during the same time frame.^[3] A total of 15 vessels were hijacked, 172 crewmembers were taken hostage, 63 were kidnapped, and 21 were assaulted. Crew assaults, kidnapping and ransom rose also dramatically from 2006. ^[4]

Somalia remains one of the most dangerous coastlines in the world, with 26 incidents reported so far this year against eight in ‘06.^[5] This may be a record number of attacks as there has never been this many attacks reported off the coast of this East African country.^[6] Ransom demanded by the captors of hijacked ships are going considerably higher than previous years, noted IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan.^[7] Of course, this begs the question, are the ransom rates higher because there are more attacks, or are there more attacks because the higher ransoms are being paid?

Attacks have also risen sharply in Nigerian waters, with 26 incidents reported to the IMB compared to 9 during the corresponding period in 2006.^[8] Criminal groups claimed to have political motives for the theft and abduction of crewmembers; in response Nigeria has set up a Maritime Guard Command to help increase safety and security along the country’s coastline.^[9]

Piracy is defined as “a forcible depredation upon property on the high seas without lawful authority, done … in a spirit and intention of universal hostility.”^[10] It is one of the few transnational crimes that is universally condemned and subject to “universal jurisdiction.”^[11] Under the concept of universal jurisdiction, any nation can prosecute a person for certain acts committed anywhere in the world, if that nation’s domestic statutes allow it. The United States criminalizes piracy at sea in 18 U.S.C. § 1651 which states that whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, will be imprisoned for life.^[12]

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^[1] ICC Staff, Piracy attacks rise 14% as Nigerian and Somalian coasts become more dangerous London, International Chamber of Commerce, October 16, 2007, available at http://www.icc-ccs.org/main/news.php?newsid=95 (last visited October 25, 2007).
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] United States v. Baker, 24 F. Cas. 962, 965 (C.C.S.D.N.Y. 1861) (No. 14,501) (a pirate is a person who “roves the sea in an armed vessel … on his own authority, and for the purpose of seizing by force and appropriating to himself, without discrimination, every vessel he may meet.”)
^[11] See Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 404 (1987).
^[12] 18 U.S.C. § 1651 (2006).