Piracy

This article is about nautical piracy. For other uses of "Piracy" or "Pirate", see Pirate (disambiguation).

The flag of 18th-century pirate Calico Jack

Piracy is a robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$13 to $16 billion per year[1]), particularly in the waters between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, off the Somali coast, and in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. A recent surge in piracy off the Somali coast spurred a multi-national effort led by the United States to patrol the waters near the Horn of Africa to combat piracy. While boats off the coasts of North America and the Mediterranean Sea are still assailed by pirates, the Royal Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard have nearly eradicated piracy in U.S. waters and the Caribbean Sea.

The Jolly Roger is a traditional flag of European and American pirates and a symbol for piracy that has been adopted by film-makers and toy manufacturers.

Historical piracy

Ancient piracy

The earliest documented incidence of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the Aegean in the 13th century BC. In Classical Antiquity, the Tyrrhenians and Thracians were nd of your moms name long resisted Greek influence and remained a haven for Thracian pirates. The Latin term pirata, from which the English "pirate" is derived, derives ultimately from Greek peira (πείρα) "attempt, experience", implicitly "to find luck on the sea". The pirate theory was a legend of over 58688 years ago that told of a dark spirit cast in a pirate's body after they had been a pirate for 50 years. Sometimes this dark spirit cause epilepsy and loss of memory.

On one voyage across the Aegean Sea in 2007 ,

The attack against the U.S. cruise ship the Seabourn Spirit offshore of Somalia in November 2005 is an example of the sophisticated pirates mariners face. The pirates carried out their attack more than 100 miles offshore with speedboats launched from a larger mother ship. The attackers were armed with automatic firearms and an RPG.

Many nations forbid ships to enter their territorial waters or ports if the crew of the ships are armed in an effort to restrict possible piracy. Shipping companies sometimes hire private security guards.

Modern definitions of piracy include the following acts:

• Kidnapping of people for ransom
• Robbery
• Murder
• Seizure of items or the ship
• Sabotage resulting in the ship subsequently sinking

In modern times, ships and airplanes are hijacked for political reasons as well. The perpetrators of these acts could be described as pirates (for instance, the French for "plane hijacker" is pirate de l'air, literally "air pirate"), but in English are usually termed "hijackers". An example is the hijacking of the Italian civilian passenger ship Achille Lauro, which is generally regarded as an act of piracy.

Also in modern times, piracy and terrorism have started to become intertwined. One scenario is a terrorist group taking over a large ship, especially a liquefied natural gas carrier, and crashing this ship in a chokepoint for commerce, or a major port. A disturbing piece of evidence for this is the March 2003 attack on the ship Dewey Madrid, which was cruising in the Malacca Strait when it was also seized by pirates. However, the pirates showed no interest in the ship's cargo or crew, rather focusing on learning how to steer the ship or another of its size, but had no interest in procedures for docking or mooring. The pirates then left taking manuals and technical information. In the words of one maritime lawyer: "Does this remind anyone of Florida flight schools?"

Modern pirates also use a great deal of technology. It has been reported that crimes of piracy have involved the use of mobile phones, modern speedboats, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, mounted machine guns, and even RPGs & grenade launchers. However, more primitive weapons such as knives, batons, or boat-hooks are also often used.

Piracy attacks decline

A U.S. merchant seaman takes aim during training to repel pirates in the Strait of Malacca, 1984.

Piracy attacks are declining worldwide. Figures reported by the International Maritime Bureau indicate pirate attacks fell for the third year in a row in 2006. Pirates attacked 239 ships during the year 2006, down from 276 in 2005, and 329 in 2004.

The maritime watchdog group points to better awareness of the magnitude of piracy and subsequent involvement by governments in combating piracy as factors in the decline.

Yet hotspots remain. They include Indonesia, still the world’s most dangerous piracy region, Nigeria, Somalia, and the ports of Chittagong in Bangladesh and Santos in Brazil, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) 2006 Annual Report. Furthermore, experts caution that local problem areas can emerge quickly, despite a worldwide down trend in pirate attacks.

"When attacks hit a peak in 2000, at that time Somalia was just a blip on the radar screen," said the secretary-general of the Shipping Federation during an interview with the London Financial Times. "Then it becomes a big problem. Piracy tends to be a feature of areas where there is either lawlessness or real economic deprivation and it's very difficult to eradicate."

The recent downward trend in piracy worldwide follows a period when attacks tripled between 1993 and 2003. The first half of 2003 was the worst 6-month period on record, with 234 pirate attacks, 16 deaths, and 52 people injured worldwide. There were also 193 crew members held hostage during this period [2][3]. In the first 6 months of 2004, 182 reported cases of piracy turned up worldwide, 50 of which occurring in Indonesian waters [4].

The Piracy Reporting Centre of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) stated in 2004 that more pirate attacks in that year occurred in Indonesian waters (70 of 251 reported attacks) than in the waters of any other country. Of these attacks, a majority occurred in the Straits of Malacca. They also stated that of the attacks in 2004, oil and gas tankers and bulk carriers were the most popular targets with 67 attacks on tankers and 52 on bulk carriers.

Modern victims

• The Environmentalist and yachtsman Sir Peter Blake was killed by Brazilian pirates in 2001.[5]
• The American luxury liner The Seabourn Spirit was attacked by pirates in November 2005 off the Somalian coast. There was one injury to a crewmember; he was hit by shrapnel.
• A Netherlands-based motor tanker attacked outside the port of All Saints Bay in Argentina in November 1998. Multiple injuries.
• The cargo ship Chang Song boarded and taken over by pirates posing as customs officials in the South China Sea in 1998. Entire crew of 23 was killed and their bodies thrown overboard. Six bodies were eventually recovered in fishing nets. A crackdown by the Chinese government resulted in the arrest of 38 pirates and the group's leader, a corrupt customs official, and 11 other pirates publicly executed by firing squad.
• Collision between container ship Ocean Blessing and hijacked tanker Nagasaki Spirit in the Malacca Strait in 1991. Pirates boarded the Nagasaki Spirit, removed its captain from command, set the ship on autopilot, and left with the ship's master for a ransom, leaving the ship going at full speed with no one at the wheel. The collision and resulting fire took the lives of 51 sailors; between the two ships there were only 3 survivors. The fire on the Nagasaki Spirit lasted for six days; the fire aboard the Ocean Blessing burned for six weeks.
• In October of 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked off the coast of Egypt by terrorists claiming to be from the Palestine Liberation Organization. The terrorists demanded the release of PLO operatives imprisioned in Israel. Following the Israelis' refusal, the terrorists shot a disabled American tourist named Leon Klinghoffer and dumped his body overboard.
• Pirates boarded the supertanker Dewey Madrid in March 2003 in the Malacca Strait. The pirates did not focus on the crew or cargo, instead focusing on learning how to steer the ship. They left taking manuals and technical information. No injuries.
• Authorities estimate that only 10% of pirate attacks are actually reported

Piracy in international law

Effects on international boundaries

During the 18th century, the British and the Dutch controlled opposite sides of the Straits of Malacca. Some pirates carried on activities similar to armed rebellion with the aim of resisting the colonisers. In order to put a stop to this, the British and the Dutch drew a line separating the Straits into two halves. The agreement was that each party would be responsible for combating piracy in their respective half. Eventually this line became the border between Malaysia and Indonesia in the Straits.

International law

Piracy is of note in international law as it is commonly held to represent the earliest invocation of the concept of universal jurisdiction. The crime of piracy is considered a breach of jus cogens, a conventional peremptory international norm that states must uphold. Those committing thefts on the high seas, inhibiting trade, and endangering maritime communication are considered by sovereign states to be hostis humani generis (enemies of humanity).

In English admiralty law, piracy was defined as petit treason during the medieval period, and offenders were accordingly liable to be drawn and quartered on conviction. Piracy was redefined as a felony during the reign of Henry VIII. In either case, piracy cases were cognizable in the courts of the Lord High Admiral. English admiralty vice-admiralty judges emphasized that "neither Faith nor Oath is to be kept" with pirates; i.e. contracts with pirates and oaths sworn to them were not legally binding. Pirates were legally subject to summary execution by their captors if captured in battle. In practice, instances of summary justice and annulment of oaths and contracts involving pirates do not appear to have been common.

Since piracy often takes place outside the territorial waters of any state, the prosecution of pirates by sovereign states represents a complex legal situation. The prosecution of pirates on the high seas contravenes the conventional freedom of the high seas. However, because of universal jurisdiction, action can be taken against pirates without objection from the flag state of the pirate vessel. This represents an exception to the principle extra territorium jus dicenti impune non paretur (the judgment of one who is exceeding his territorial jurisdiction may be disobeyed with impunity).

Piracy in popular culture and fiction

This image shows many of the characteristics commonly associated with a stereotypical pirate in popular culture, such as a parrot, peg leg, hook and eye patch.

Main article: Pirates in popular culture

In popular culture, pirates are associated with a stereotypical manner of speaking and dress. This tradition owes much to Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island. Pirates are a frequent topic in fiction, science fiction (usually as "space pirates"), movies and music, usually in a comic or idealized form. Several sport teams use the term as a part of their name. The Monkey Island games center on the pirate Guybrush Threepwood among others. Due to certain reasons, filmmakers do not often depict modern pirates in movies. All recorded acts of a modern piracy still include a plain robbery mixed with violence. Among movies, the only known exception is Piraty XX veka.

Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean films starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley, features pirates prominently. Another famous example is in Peter Pan, where Peter's foes are the gang of pirates lead by Captain Hook.

Bobby Henderson's satirical religion of Pastafarianism, and its peoples, the Pastafarians, have many claims to do with pirates, including how the decline of true pirates has caused global warming.

The manga and anime series One Piece features pirates prominently.

See also

• International Talk Like a Pirate Day
• Isis
• List of pirates
• Looting
• Pier Gerlofs Donia
• Piracy in the Caribbean
• Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
• Pirate game
• Pirate loot problem
• Privateer
• Spanish treasure fleet
• Timeline of piracy

References

Modern piracy

• ONI Worldwide Threats to Shipping Reports, Weekly
• IMB Piracy Reporting Center Weekly Piracy Report
• Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships: Guidance for Suppressing and Preventing
• Reports on Piracy, Month by Month
• Information About Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships
• Introduction to Modern Yacht Piracy
• Piracy 'on the rise' off Somalia
• Waters That Prompt Fear From the Toughest of Sailors
• Yacht Piracy
• Pirates attack 2 Navy warships from Norfolk in the Indian Ocean
• U.S. Navy prowls Africa's coast to extinguish threats from pirates
• More details on US Navy's latest pirate skirmish
• MARAD Advisory 05-03: Somali Piracy
• Pirates & Privateers, Scummers of the Seven Seas
• Return of the Pirates. History Channel.

Historical piracy

• "Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age" Audio and video of a lecture presented by University of Pittsburgh professor Marcus Rediker
• Pirate Utopias (Do or Die) - Piracy and Anarchism
• The Pirate's Realm Pirate info and history
• The Golden Age of Piracy, and its origins in class struggle - on peopleshistory.co.uk
• Piracy Timeline
• The Jolly Roger Pirate Flag
• Women Pirates
• A look at Piracy in the Caribbean, in fact and fiction

Pirate language

• Talk Like a Pirate dictionary and Pirate Jokes
• International Talk Like A Pirate Day
• Pirate Glossary
• Pirate Dictionary
• Language Realm Pirate Dictionary

Pirate festivals

• Pirate Festivals

Further reading

• Beal, Clifford (2007). Quelch's Gold: Piracy, Greed, and Betrayal in Colonial New England. Praeger. p. 243. ISBN 0-275-99407-4.
• Burnett, John (2002). Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas. Plume. p. 346. ISBN 0-452-28413-9.
• Menefee, Samuel (1996). Trends in Maritime Violence. Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-1403-9.
• Cawthorne, Nigel (2004). History of Pirates: Blood and Thunder on the High Seas. Book Sales. ISBN 0-7858-1856-1.
• Cordingly, David (1997). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates. Harvest Books. ISBN 0-15-600549-2.
• Girard, Geoffrey (2006). Tales of the Atlantic Pirates. Middle Atlantic Press. ISBN 0-9754419-5-7.
• Langewiesche, William (2004). The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime. North Point Press. ISBN 0-86547-581-4.
• Rediker, Marcus (1987). Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37983-0.
• Kimball, Steve (2006). The Pyrates Way Magazine. The Pyrates Way, LLC. p. 64.