Piracy

During the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, piracy was rampant in the Atlantic, specifically in the West Indies. Piracy has existed since the earliest days of ocean travel, for a range of personal and economic reasons. However, one of the major reasons why piracy was wide spread and rampant in the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries was Great Britain’s endorsement and usage of piracy as an asset; in wars fought in the New World. Great Britain with its expanding power and conflicts with other nations would make piracy a lifestyle and lay down the foundation for the Golden Age of Piracy and eventually bring what it created to a screeching halt.

Most people do not know this but piracy on international waters and on the coast of Somalia has become an increasingly important issue to global businesses. Since most people are unaware of this growing problem it has just now been noticed. To help stop piracy most crews are encouraged to have trained officers aboard while shipping cargo to avoid attacks by pirates. 95 percent of the piracy on international waters is by somali pirates. That’s right 95 percent. Piracy is robbery/stealing at sea. Not a lot of people are aware that piracy occurs almost everyday.

An obstacle that arises in securing ships and ports is that of travelling to foreign ports. Security professionals are are encouraging the United States government to extend U.S. boundaries to foreign ports, which would put much emphasis on security at loading points (70). The fear is that attackers will board a ship at a foreign port and sail to American soil where they could practice terrorism. A way that shipping security has changed is that of the plan of the Container Security Initiative (CSI), which calls for international security criteria to identify high-risk cargo containers for pre-screening at their point of shipment (70). The Coast Guard has also increased patrols in the U.S. ports and waterways, specifically around the nation’s critical petro-chemical facilities (71). By 2004, The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code took effect requiring ship operators to develop security plans, appoint ship and company security officers and maintain a minimum level of on board security, while port officers are required to develop similar plans and hire a port facility security officer (71). This code made it mandatory for all ships to be secure both while still in ports and also while travelling. Not only does this protect passengers aboard the ship, but also citizens of the United States as threats cannot enter the country through shipping

The first major threat of cargo supply chain is terrorist. It is clear that terrorists can see the potential of using the maritime trading system to conceal weapons or agents for attack purposes or to provide funding or support for their operations. Unknown risk results from the virtually limitless range of targets and tactics available to terrorists.

Because of the "poverty, lack of employment, environmental hardship, pitifully low incomes, reduction of pastoralist and maritime resources due to drought and illegal fishing and a volatile security and political situation all contribute to the rise and continuance of piracy in Somalia.”6 For one thing the pirate trade is easy to do; there is no real fear of their targeted victims shooting at them, because “by International agreement, civilian vessels” cannot have guns.7 The money a pirate earns is great, and has made the pirates “the country's most eligible bachelors,” pirating has become “Somalia’s biggest industry.”7 In 2008, Sugule Ali, a pirate who was part of the seizing of MV Faina, a Ukrainian freighter packed with Soviet-made tanks, grenade launchers …etc. “demanded $25 million for its release told a reporter, "We only want the money."

Piracy in the Golden Age devastated the trade economy. Hundreds of ships carrying numerous amounts of goods were plundered. Today, piracy hardly dents the two trillion dollar a year shipping industry. In 1997 losses amounted to “$.32 for every $10,000” J. Gottschalk. This leaves little financial incentive for companies to deal with the problem.

It was previously mentioned, by Adams, how America should not wage war against the Barbary states, unless, America had plans of fighting them forever. While Adam’s words were not heeded, they rang true. From the ten years after the first Barbary War, to hundreds of years after the Barbary Wars, there is still piracy. Modern Day Piracy is commanded by Somali fisherman who attack cargo ships that travel along Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. The Somalian Fisherman first struck in the year of 1990, while their numbers have declined after 2012, there are still Somali Pirates. Some of the countries that have been attacked by the modern day pirates include Hong Kong, India, Liberia, Kenya, Taiwan, Denmark, North Korea, The United States, and numerous

The Article 100 of the UNCLOS Agreement, highlights that all states have to cooperate in the repression piracy if it falls outside the jurisdiction of any state. Furthermore, the Article 101 explains the acts of piracy, it states that the actions of piracy must be taking place on the high sea. Pirates get away easily with the hijack ships from territorial water, all because the government of Somali does not have the capacity to control them. Somalia is depended on UN’s shipped food by boat. Because of this, warships are in the Gulf of Aden in order to keep a free narrow corridor from pirates, so the food can arrive to Somalia. More ships are nowadays armed and have armed security staff. Nevertheless, the risk of killing another country’s citizen has to be taken in consideration due to the possible legal issues coming

Though many of the stories told of pirates, by hollywood and authors alike, are full of electrifying adventures and enthralling characters, they are also filled with historical fallacy. From treasure to talking birds, media has been skewing the historical accuracy of pirates since Stevensons Treasure Isalnd. By doing this the media forever changed how adults and children alike view pirates. This of course, agravates historian to no end, as the struggle to elaborate fact from fiction continues still. Stevensons novel started many trends of no histortical merit still seen in todays movies, such as Pirates of the Caribbean.

“The more taboos and inhibitions there are in the world, the poorer people become… The more articulate the laws and ordinances, the more robbers and thieves arise” (qtd. in “Rumrunning…”). The 1920’s in American History was an extraordinary time period due to the extreme prosperity of the people who lived in it. The lust for bigger and better conveniences was developed and led people to want easy money. After the eighteenth amendment went into effect, the quickest way to make money was through the illegal production and smuggling of alcohol. Smuggling created the infamous gangsters who made their fortunes from the moonshine. The greatest contributor

Piracy in Somalia has come about due to years of internal fighting and weakened government. With the overthrow of the president in 1991, Somalia has been a complete anarchy with only the laws of rival clans who have been in power. Though long before that the country has been in constant war between the people of the country because money and food have been always been scarce. Small amounts of money have been made through some exports but the real money came from the fishing off the coast. Recently because of the lack of laws commercial fisherman from all over the world have been over-fishing the waters and leaving the Somalis with too few fish to survive. European companies have used this lack of laws as a way to easily dump their

Online piracy is commonly referred to as a threat to businesses in the creative industries. The WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (a.k.a. “the TRIPS” agreement) defines piracy as:

How can traditional (or old media) enterprises such as film, television and music overcome the threat of online piracy and file sharing?

The term “piracy” means the act of robbing or behaving with illegal violence at sea (“Piracy”).

The frequency and severity of cyber-attacks on maritime targets increases every year. Often the damage is not discovered until years later. The cyber-attack on the port of Antwerp began in 2011 and continued until it was discovered in 2013. The Danish Maritime Authority was attacked in 2012 by a virus contained in a PDF (portable document format by Adobe). The virus spread throughout the Maritime Authority’s network and into Danish government institutions before it was discovered in 2014. Reasons for the ever-increasing security exposure include the growing use and interdependence of computer systems, the relative ease and extreme value of executing attacks, and the exceptional difficulty in identifying the culprits and bringing them to justice. Regrettably, some port authorities contribute to their vulnerability by addressing cyber-security as a technology threat best left to IT professionals. On the contrary, successful and serious cyber-attacks are inevitable and the planned response must be subject to the same governance and scrutiny that any existential threat would receive. One reason that port authorities hesitate to engage cyber-threats at the Board level is a lack of appreciation for just how impossible cyber-security is. A more complete understanding of the factors that complicate cyber-security can assist Directors in stepping up to set priorities and oversee contingency and remediation plans.