The International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports the lowest level of global piracy and armed robbery incidents since 1993 in its first quarter piracy and armed robbery report for 2023.
The IMB’s latest global piracy report says 27 incidents were reported in the first quarter of the year, representing a marked decline from 37 incidents for the same period in 2022.
Of the 27 incidents, perpetrators boarded the victims’ vessels in 24 cases, two vessels reported attempted incidents and one vessel was hijacked. Despite the drop in numbers, the threat of violence remains six crew kidnapped, two taken hostage, two threatened and one assaulted.
Pirate and armed robbery activity continues to decrease in the Gulf of Guinea, an area which had become a relative hotbed for this crime in recent history. Just five incidents were reported in Q1 2023 compared to eight in 2022 and 16 in 2021.
Source: ICC Commercial Crime Services