Understanding piracy and armed robbery of vessels is essential in maintaining maritime security. In addition, quantifying the economic and human costs of piracy is important in comprehending the true impact of piracy and robbery at sea.

EU NAVFOR now lies at the centre of a complex network of organisations and partnerships who must work together to ensure piracy remains repressed off the Somali coast. At the 2017 OBP report launch held in London on 23^rd May, EU NAVFOR personnel presented their assessment and military analysis of the piracy threat that exists off the Horn of Africa, but also outlined other threat areas that have emerged and emphasised the need for vigilance and adherence to industry agreed protection measures that can help protect seafarers.

Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, Senior fellow to the OBP organisation chaired the event and said, “Even though the focus today was on piracy around the world, it has become very apparent how inter-connected it is to land based violence and criminal activity”.

Donald “Larry” Sampler, President of One Earth Future organisation closed the event, saying: “I am always astounded how even in 2018, we generate so much international interest on the topic of piracy and how there is so much positive energy from the people involved here today in working out how we can all work together and keep it repressed”.

The 2017 OBP report looks at the effects of piracy and criminal activity across the world and highlights the economic and human cost to world trade. In summary, the report states that the annual cost of Somali-borne piracy shrank slightly last year from $1.7 to $1.4bn. The estimated naval costs fell from approximately $230 to $200M and some 1100 seafarers were in some way affected by maritime security events. The 2017 headlines and link to the full report is found here: http://oneearthfuture.org/press-releases/oef-releases-2017-state-of-maritime-piracy-report.

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