In the first three months of 2020, researchers have seen a 24 percent increase in pirate attacks and attempted attacks, over the same period in 2019.
Brandon Prins, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Global Security Fellow at UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, suggests that the coronavirus pandemic may be to blame for the rising numbers.
The medical and economic fallout from the pandemic seems likely to pose severe challenges for countries with few resources and weak governments. West African and South American countries already struggle to police their territorial waters.
Even with the early numbers suggesting an increase for 2020, global piracy isn’t as high as it was during the Somali peak from 2009 to 2012. But if economic conditions worsen around the globe and ships look like easy targets, it may escalate as more desperate people attempt to survive. Read the full article on The Conversation.
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