Ships' captains are being warned that if they make an unscheduled stop or slow down along the coast of Somalia their vessels will almost certainly be boarded by armed militia. The International Maritime Bureau [IMB] has highlighted the growing danger in its Annual Piracy Report. It has increased its rating for the risk of attack along the Somali coastline from possibility to certainty. The IMB's Jayant Abyankar told the BBC's World Business Report that it was almost impossible to quantify the total cost to business of piracy and armed robbery at sea. "We can quantify in terms of hijacking whereby the losses could be maybe $50m or $60m a year," he said. Last year 25 ships were hijacked, compared with 16 in 2000.
"Yar! Those swabs be givin' pirates a bad name!" |