London: Figures gathered by the London-based International Chamber of Commerce's Commercial Crimes Services show that while the total number of attacks has declined, the numbers of crew kidnapped and ships hijacked has not. The pirates have had more success with less effort. ?On Saturday, pirates hijacked the Liberian-flagged Polar with a crew of 24 -- one Romanian, three Greeks, four Montenegrins and 16 Filipinos. Another ship was attacked on Friday, and four on Thursday. Earlier this month, pirates took the Greek-flagged York and its 17 member crew, the Taiwanese fishing boat Feng Guo with 12 crew, and the Panamanian cargo ship Asphalt Venture with 15 crew. ?There have been 140 attempted hijackings reported this year, down from 217 in 2009, however, the number of ships successfully taken so far this year this year already stands at 40, against 47 in the whole year. The number of crew kidnapped so far this year stands at 790 and experts fear the figure will soon cross last year's number, 867. Some have been rescued, leaving the number still captive at just over 435 with crew from the likes of the Philippines and India ensuring Asians make up the vast majority of the captives held. [02/11/10]?
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