Sample Essay on Economic Impact of Maritime Piracy
In the recent years, cases of attacks around the vessels or shores by pirates have been on the rise. Most of the attacks have been reported around the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and on the Somali basin. Vast areas of waters have been affected as maritime piracy has become way of many pirates to make money whilst they attack innocent people or security officers. Piracy affects the economy in many ways. It not only affects the major shipping lanes, but also risks the lives of the merchant seamen and seafarers from every sphere of life.
Maritime piracy is usually committed by a person or a group of people that are not working as a government entity. It is a criminal activity that involves consisted raids of ships and boats for the hunt for goods and cash. In many occasions, this pirate activities end up with captive of the victims. There is a rich history on piracy and the widely relied piece of information on maritime piracy was during the Golden Age of Piracy that took place during the 1650s and 1720s. Pirates these days keep showing themselves as desperate criminal who can do anything to affects any operations by merchants or any group that may be carrying profitable goods on the ocean or sea.
With the many economic effects that are put forward by the pirates’ activities, these attacks are typically violent and may result to death if aggravated. Maritime companies suffer substantial economic losses that come with cargo robbery, loss of huge amount of money paid for the release of captives or vessels. Cases of increased insurance premiums have been reported with the involved merchants facing a lot of financial challenges.
Maritime piracy is not only a disaster, but also an international problem. The animosity activities in the maritime have become unacceptable as many people are losing lives on daily basis. In fact, due to the many effects of piracy, national and international policies to combat these activities have been established. Petroleum tankers and many other merchant vessels have been hijacked by pirates and large ransoms have been paid to these maritime pirates for the release of the goods, captives and the vessels. In 2009, the pirates’ income increased from 42.1 million Euros to $238 million in 2010. This indicates that the activities of pirates have rampant but intensified counter-piracy efforts have seen this amount reduce to $160 million in 2011. Besides the huge losses in paying ransoms, a lot of money has been used in the course of anti-piracy initiatives.
Local residents living within the sea have also been affected by the pirates’ activities. Many residents have complained of wild fluctuations in the local exchange rate as the free spending freedom has been affected by the activities of pirates. There is also increased insecurity within the regions as the presence of armed men instigates fears and makes it hard to enjoy day-to-day activities. The locals have also experience great losses as there has been a rise in illegal fishing. All these activities associated with maritime piracy have led to poor living standards of the residents and lack of an effective sovereign control over the sea or ocean waters.
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Online sources:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-maritime-piracy.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_Somalia
http://textbook.ncmm.no/elements-of-maritime-medicine/12-medical-aspects-of-piracy-and-violent-crime/484-santiago-iglesias-baniela