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A Record Year for Pirates

High Seas

Take 1,181 hostages in 2010.

Just because you don’t hear about them as much anymore doesn’t mean they’ve given up: Pirates had a banner year in 2010, capturing 1,181 hostages on 53 vessels. All but four of those ships were capture off the coast of Somalia. It’s both the highest number of hostages and vessels captured since the International Maritime Bureau began monitoring pirating in 1991. After hijacking another four ships this year, Somali pirates currently hold 31 vessels and 713 hostages.

Read it at Associated Press