Modern day pirates, Ancient day crimes

There has been a sharp rise in the number of people killed at sea by pirates, this according to the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) piracy reporting center in Malaysia. The IMB indicates that 30 mariners were murdered during the 325 known acts of piracy in 2004 - half of them in the waters off Nigeria. That figure made 2004 one of the bloodiest since the center started collecting statistics on piracy 15 years ago.

Kidnappings by pirates on the high seas have been a plague upon seafarers for centuries. In 1795, 115 American sailors were kidnapped by pirates in North Africa. To resolve this situation, the fledgling US Government was forced to pay a $1million dollar ransom, one-quarter of its national budget, to gain the release of the sailors.

Case in point, the Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia is one of the business shipping lanes in the world, a fact that has not been overlooked by modern day pirates. Almost 40 known acts of piracy were recorded in these waters last year, but such incidents almost disappeared after a deadly tsunami struck the entire area in December, possibly killing some of the pirates and/or destroying their boats, or else they had to lay low due to the presence of armed international military personnel in the area helping with relief efforts.

About a week ago two yachts were attacked by pirates firing automatic weapons and a running gun battle ensued between crew members and pirates. Last Saturday night approximately 35 heavily armed pirates, some carrying automatic weapons and rocket launchers, (noting other pirates still prefer to carry knifes or machetes), boarded an Indonesian owned oil tanker in the Malacca Strait and kidnapped the captain and a crew member. This was followed Monday night by pirates in this same area boarding a Japanese tugboat and kidnapping the ship's captain and two members of his crew.

MORE FROM PROFILER'S PERSPECTIVE

Honeymooner gone in a heartbeat

Honeymooner gone in a heartbeat Murder and mayhem in Richmond Van Zandt: The media, the NSA and the Patriot Act Van Zandt: 'Tookie' stirs up death penalty debate Van Zandt: Cause of death? Unknown Van Zandt: Who knows what evil lurks? Van Zandt: Why some say Natalee may still be alive Van Zandt: Comparing the L.A. and Paris riots Van Zandt: No easy answers in Pa. case Van Zandt: Pirate attack - This is not a drill   Add Profiler's Perspective headlines to your news reader: