Pirate

Think pirates are make-believe? Well think again, pirate attacks worldwide have increased 14 percent in just the first 9 months of 2007 alone. This is largely due to un-policed (or poorly policed) waters off the coast of Somalia and Nigeria.

Some of the attacks in Somalia have even turned deadly. Theirs rose 26 percent from 2006. During the six months that the Council of Islamic Courts ruled most of southern Somalia, piracy abated. At one point, the CIC said it was sending scores of fighters to crack down on pirates there. Islamic fighters even stormed a hijacked UAE-registered ship and recaptured it after a gunbattle in which pirates , but no crew members, were reportedly wounded.

Indonesia remains the world's worst piracy hotspot, with 37 attacks in the first nine months of 2007. But it is still lower than that of last year (40 attacks by this time). Nigeria, however, rich in oil, has suffered 26 pirate attacks this year, suffering only 9 by this point last year.

Information from: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/10/17/pirate.attacks.ap/index.html