Satellite images from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research maps the areas where most Somali pirate attacks have occurred in recent years.
Piracy by the Numbers
111
pirate attacks in 2008. Seventy-nine attacks so far in 2009
1,900
miles of Somalia's coastline, the longest in Africa
7
countries that staff CTF-150, a multinational maritime security effort in the Horn of Africa. Six other nations have offered assistance at one time.
42
vessels seized in 2008; 19 hijackings so far in 2009
920
length in miles of the Gulf of Aden
260,000
tons of food shipped by the World Food Program to Somalia last year, most of it passing through the sea lane's danger zone.
150,000,000
ransom dollars paid in 2008
20,000+
ships that cross the Gulf every year.
3,500,000
Somalis fed by the World Food Program donations arriving by sea this year
Piracy In The News
A global problem is brought home clearly by one ship's seizure.