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Real Life Pirate Hangouts
Ahoy, matey! This Thursday, May 24 will see the U.S. release of a brand new chapter in the adventures of Jack Sparrow in The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. While fans across the globe are warming their hands in anticipation, and studios are counting the dollar signs, we decided to put fiction aside and find out where the real life, modern pirates are still hanging out these days. The search takes us from the Bay of Bengal to the treacherous waters off the coast of Somalia -- from the Nigerian Delta to the Strait of Malacca, where grenade launching pirates cruise around in speed boats, stealing oil and robbing cruise ships. Where are the hot-spots? What's really the most dangerous shipping port in the world? No offense, Jack, but it's time to find out where the real life pirates hang out.
Somalia is a hotbed for modern day piracy, and the BBC calls the Indian Ocean waters off the coast of this African nation the "most dangerous for pirate activities in the world." One thing is for sure: they aren't smart. As recent as 2006, a group of grenade-launching pirates attacked two U.S. Navy warships 25 miles from the coast of Somalia. No sailors were injured, though three pirates were critically wounded when the U.S. Navy returned fire, and one was kindly brought aboard the warship and treated for his injuries. Pirates in the region have also made it a habit of intercepting ships carrying relief aid headed for Somalia -- taking away food and supplies meant to reach millions -- and hijacking cruise ships.
The Strait of Malacca is a lucrative area for pirates, with over a quarter of the world's trade passing through this thin strip of sea between Indonesia and Malaysia. In April of 1999, the Valiant Carrier, a fuel tanker from Cyprus, was attacked by Molotov cocktail-tossing pirates who boarded the ship and stabbed most of the crew, including a 7-month-old baby. Fortunately, piracy in the Strait of Malacca has been decreasing lately due to "co-ordinated naval patrols between Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia," with reported incidents dropping 25% from 2005 to 2006.
Even though the numbers for piracy are declining, there's one area that incidents are growing: Bangladesh. In 2006 they recorded a staggering 33 incidents (22 successful, 11 attempted) making Chittagong the "world's most dangerous port." There have been 47 reports since January of 2006 alone. In 2003, pirates killed 14 fishermen in the Bay of Bengal waters outside of Chittagong, stealing $50,000 USD worth of fish and further making this dangerous port a pivotal area for piracy. Take this for example, from OpinionAsia: "In 2004, Bangladesh Police found the bodies of 16 fishermen stuffed in the ice chamber of their boat F.B Kausara." Scary indeed.
There's another African country where piracy is still rampant: Nigeria, and specifically the Nigerian Delta, which ranked 3rd in number of attacks behind Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca. According to IRIN News, "Gangs, armed with automatic rifles and increasingly with rocket-propelled grenades, cruise along in speedboats and barges, finding cover in the maze of creeks and rivers intertwined with mangrove swamps that make up the delta where the River Niger empties into the Atlantic Ocean." Reports estimate that at least 10 percent of Nigeria's oil output -- over 100,000 barrels -- is stolen every day in these waters. This amounts to "US $1.5 million [per day] and would buy enough weapons to sustain a force of 1,500 youths for two months," according to the same article by IRIN. Wow.
Last but certainly not least, the waters surrounding Indonesia are what many call the world's most pirate-infested, "whose underpaid coast guards are suspected of sharing the spoils with modern-day Bluebeards," according to the Christian Science Monitor. The International Maritime Bureau warned that Indonesia was "by far the greatest piracy risk," with the country's waters harboring "more incidents than the next three [most dangerous] countries combined."Related:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dijona Harrison Apr 18th 2008 11:37PM
how do you even become a pirate anyways? land or sea doesn't matter.I just need to know.
Ashley Jun 21st 2008 2:49PM
You guys are crazy. . . pirates aren't just arrrrr....and ho hum like ya think. . . they're real. Thieves.
But it arouses my interest too. . . how couldn't it, matey? ;-)
Haylee Jun 2nd 2010 4:24AM
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john north Jun 27th 2010 9:40AM
well let me see you land lubbers, pirates ye all know of today are those scallywag natives of the Barbary coast who just like to blow things up and take ye oil, well i be not saying the other kind of pirates dont do that also, but real pirates are just doing the same thing, be a few differeences, first ye plunder small wooden ships, ye use cannons and swords, and be dont try to make all the land lubbers think ye are terroists ye just playing by yar own rules because if ye think about it yar rules are just a scallywags way of controling what ye do. so if you be asking me there are two types of pirates, the good and there be the bad, and ye do not play by yars rules
mary Jul 12th 2012 1:52PM
i really think there are some pirates out there they just dont want to be in the bullshit like we are today. there is to much shit out here that the pirates dont want to be bother with our dum shit thats why they have there own life's out there were they are at right .
DylanM May 23rd 2007 2:43AM
grr, i'm a pirate
Dereth Tang May 23rd 2007 4:45AM
"Welcome to Singapore!"
Yup, I'm from Singapore and a coupla hundred years back this was the hotbed for pirate activities as well as a famous R & R (Rest and Recreation) Center. *wink* *wink*
Temasek, Singapura, "Shi Leh Poh", "Nan Yang" or whatever she was called that time.
Nowadays, thanx to our vigilant coastguards, not much of such pirate problems occur near our coasts anymore. :)
- Dereth
http://www.dereth.org
paulyester May 23rd 2007 5:43AM
Actually there were 2 dead and 2 seriously wounded. The wounded spent about 6 months on a succession of Navy ships until they were finally flown to Kenya. Once the ICRC took possession of them I lost interst in their fate.
Roderick Spode May 30th 2007 5:36AM
Modern-day Blackbeards, not Bluebeards, surely?
J Davison May 23rd 2007 6:43AM
This is really good subjcet related reading...Arggg http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/03/19/pirate_alley/
Jay May 23rd 2007 11:13AM
stupid pirates. ninjas rule.
mikewhy May 23rd 2007 12:00PM
What about Sweden?
claytonp9335 May 23rd 2007 12:24PM
What was a 7 month-old baby doing on a refueling tanker?
Hydrogen Whiskey May 23rd 2007 5:17PM
arrr ye maties!!
Cazart May 23rd 2007 6:25PM
Maybe one of those pirates could help me find the circumference of a circle. It's pi-times-something-squared.
Pi-times...something.
Justin Glow May 23rd 2007 6:21PM
Hmm... could it be pi ARRRRRRRRR!! squared?
Cazart May 23rd 2007 7:09PM
That be it, indeed. You get a gold...wait for it, me hearty...steady...wait for it...a gold starrrrrrr.
seamountie May 25th 2007 2:10AM
Cazart - pi is relationship between the circumferance and the diameter of a circle. Pi times the diameter = circumferance.
The Area of a circle = pi(radius squared)
babe_gurl_2007 May 26th 2007 12:44PM
yall are crazy!!! it's great.
i love it!
Alejandra May 26th 2007 9:06PM
PRIATES 3 ROCKS!!!!!!!!
P.S. ORLANDO BLOOM IS HOT