Sea attacks worldwide nearly doubled in the first three months of 2009, mainly due to increased pirate raids on vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia, an international maritime watchdog said Tuesday.
The number of attacks surged to 102 in the first quarter compared to 53 incidents in the same period a year ago, and marked a 20 percent increase from the previous quarter, said the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
Ships were boarded in 34 cases and nine vessels were hijacked, with 178 crew taken hostage, nine injured and two killed, it said in its quarterly report. In most cases, pirates were heavily …
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