Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 13:50:03 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: remembering the age of piracy
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

>ejablow at cox.net 05/21/03 12:37PM
>> but the question remains why piracy is
>> rare today, given that fast boats, guns,
>> and criminals are not in short
>> supply.
>>
>> Ron Kean
>
>It's not rare, Ron.  Remember that yachting champion
>who was murdered last year on the Amazon?

Rare perhaps in our little corner of the globe, but a real problem =
elsewhere.

" Incidents of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas have shown a =
marked increase, especially in the South Pacific on trade routes used by =
container ships and tankers sailing from Singapore  toward Japan and the =
United States." <http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2003/05/19/=
daily3.html >

"Sailing on the high seas has become riskier than ever, with more than 100 =
pirate attacks on ships reported worldwide during the first quarter of =
this year. The number is up from 87 during the same period last year. " =
<http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=E8F5B7CF-6BC5-4B2C-9BE263B97=
EB938C5>

"It [International Maritime Bureau] says attacks are increasingly violent, =
with militia using a range of high-tech weaponry including rocket-propelled=
 grenades and sub-machine guns. " <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk=
/L01370810.htm>

mjw