After more than a decade of effective threat-reducing counter-piracy operations the shipping industry has decided to remove the Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA), effective from January 1 next year. No piracy attacks against merchant ships have occurred off Somalia since 2018.

“Threat and risk assessments should still be carried out, and best management practices followed to continue to mitigate the risks presented in a changeable and often complex and potentially threatening environment,” a statement from the world’s top shipping organisations urged.

Piracy incidents around the world were at their lowest levels in nearly 30 years for the first half of this year. According to statistics from the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) the 58 reported incidents of piracy were the lowest for the first half of any year since 1994.

The Gulf of Guinea and the Singapore Straits were the two areas with the highest amount of attacks in the first six months of the year with Somalia barely mentioned.

Splash 247.com