World Piracy and the Threat to the Maritime Industry

Acts of piracy threaten maritime security by endangering the welfare of mariners and the security of navigation and commerce. These criminal acts may result in the loss of life, physical harm or taking of crew, disruptions to navigation and commerce, financial losses to shipowners and charterers, increased insurance premiums and security costs, increased costs to consumers and producers, and damage to the marine environment.

The Joint War Committee (JWC) is an organization out of London that publishes large-scale maritime alert messages for areas with enhanced threats to vessels of all types. Areas can be considered higher risk if there are ongoing events that warrant heightened awareness while transiting through the regions in question. These events include war, piracy, or other targeted attacks on shipping vessels, such as missile strikes or electronic interference.

These piracy zones are categorized as follows:

High Risk Areas (HRA) which include:

The Gulf of Guinea, and the West African coast from Mauritania to Angola.

Joint War Listed Areas (JWLA) which include:

The Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, The Black Sea/Sea of Azov (Russian/Ukrainian waters), Venezuela, and most recently waters offshore of Guyana.

Figure 1.  Global view of the main areas of heightened security concerns for oceangoing traffic

Some of these areas have varying levels of security threats. For instance, the Persian Gulf has seen much less activity in recent years. Most incidents in this region have been with “suspicious vessels” in the area, with no significant incident occurring.

On the other hand, Somali pirates continue to be somewhat active offshore. A fishing vessel in late November 2024 was hijacked just offshore Somalia. Several bulk carriers have also witnessed suspicious approaches to the ship. Due to these kinds of incidents, many operators choose to hire armed security guards in these dangerous waters, and/or increase their distance from Somali territorial waters.

Red Sea Region and Ongoing Tensions

Another, and arguably the most important area affected by these danger zones, is the Red Sea Region. The Suez Canal is one of the most transited shipping lanes in the world, as it connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe. However, recent geopolitical tension in the region has led to targeted attacks along coasts of Yemen to over 40 vessels, including 2 sinkings. Many attacks have been unsuccessful, with over 200 cases of intercepted or missed targets in the region.

Figure 2: Vessels transiting Bab-el-Mandeb during heightened tensions (data courtesy of Lloyd’s List Intelligence)

There have been no reported incidents since mid-November 2024, and recently, a ceasefire deal has led to an interruption of these attacks. Nonetheless, the region remains somewhat unstable and an ongoing security risk, with many operators electing to avoid these waters altogether.

Alternate Routing for Red Sea Avoidance

To avoid this region, an alternate routing option is transiting via the Cape of Good Hope. This route can take several days longer, however, given the risks associated with JWLA-Red Sea, some operators may choose this is most optimal to protect the ship, its crew, and of course any cargo onboard. The feasibility of transiting via the Cape of Good Hope also depends on the time of year. In austral winter (June-September), there is an increased frequency of gales that move west to east along southern South Africa. This can cause further delays to the vessel’s passage.  Despite the longer distance and thus increased fuel consumption, transiting via Cape of Good Hope may deliver a cost savings of USD$200,000-400,000 in saving Suez Canal tolls and increased security costs (depending on the vessel’s origin port).

Figure 3:  2025 Piracy incidents To-Date (courtesy of the International Chamber of Commerce)

Piracy attacks can have widespread ramifications, including preventing humanitarian assistance and increasing the costs of future shipments to the affected areas. As evident in the above map, areas of higher activity continue to include the Gulf of Guinea and Southeast Asia.

We encourage operators to consult a security advisor(s) to remain the most up to date on threats and incidents that occur in these regions to determine the appropriate course of action to ensure the safety of the ship, the cargo, and its crew. WRI will always take these factors in consideration when advising a route, though we would request that if there are any routing restrictions to please let us know at the time of appointment. If there are any questions regarding route optimization or piracy concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to our operations team available 24/7 at +1 (518) 798-1110 or via email at wri@wriwx.com.