By Jonathan DeHart
Thanks in part to pop culture touchstones like Treasure Island and Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, we tend to view pirates as a suave, fun-loving bunch that, despite their general lawlessness, is basically harmless at its core. But plundering on the high seas isn’t fiction and it didn’t end in the era of Sir Francis Drake.
As The Economist put it in 1999, this pop cultural take on oceanic outlaws “infuriates the world's shipowners. For them, and the crews who man their ships, piracy remains a serious, and bloody, business.” This remains as true today as it was then.
A new report issued last week by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reminds us that maritime outlaws still prowl our oceans and pose a great danger to all who cross their paths. And as the report shows, there is good news and bad news.
Read the full story at The Diplomat