Shipping is responsible for the transporation of the vast majority of goods worldwide, making the jobs of seafarers crucial for global trade. However, shipping comes with some dangers, and one of them is piracy. In this infographic, we will see the hot spots of piracy incidents over the last 40 years.
An encounter with pirates could have serious consequences; from theft of valuable cargo, to death, posing a great threat even through modern times.
This map by Adventures in Mapping has collected and depicts piracy incidents over the last 40 years based on the database from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
As we can see, most piracy incidents have been reported in Africa and Asia. In Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea report the most incidents, areas notoriously known for being piracy hot spots.
In Asia, the Strait of Malacca is one of the world’s most notorious shipping lanes. With a width of just 25 miles, and with a quarter of the world’s traded goods shipped through it every year, this area is frequent target for modern piracy.
Finally, the Caribbean is another area with a long history with piracy. Although, piracy incidents there have significantly colled down, there are still isolated incidents especially with yachts.
