IMB says deadly violence doubled in 2003 during pirate attacks
The Piracy Reporting Center at the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said pirate attacks on commercial vessels in 2003 rose 20 percent to 445 incidents.
Pirates killed 21 crewmembers in 2003, more than twice the number of deaths in 2002, using weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifles.
In most incidents, the attacks were carried out by sophisticated crime syndicates, not by rogue criminals. Corrupt port officials who leak sailing schedules to pirates are responsible for many attacks, the Piracy Reporting Center said. Cargo losses per vessel in 2003 ranged from $8 million to $200 million.