ABSTRACT
Much has been written in the media, and there have been many works of both fi ction and nonfi ction, about piracy. An equal number, if not more, have been written about terrorism. Both subjects raise interest levels when reported in the media. When both these “scourges” of modern society are linked together, the world sits up and takes notice. Piracy has been on the increase for over a decade. Acts of piracy are being reported on an almost daily basis in both regional press articles and in the maritime trade publications. Type “maritime piracy” into an Internet search engine and the scale of the problem is readily apparent. Type in “maritime terrorism” and the results are equally impressive. But there have been fewer recorded maritime terrorism events that have actually taken place. Th ose that have occurred have been particularly lethal, and the incidents have spurred governments into taking direct action, whereas reported acts of piracy appear to spur governments only to pontifi cate about who the perpetrators are. In some areas piracy is considered an annoying activity that is ignored in the hope that, sooner or later, it will go away.
