The Panther Bay
Pirate Blog

Forbes magazine is reporting that Somali pirates are holding captives and cargo significantly longer in 2010 than a year ago. An Associated Press article (18 Nov 2010) reports that ships and crew taken in 2009 were held an average of 55 days in 2009. In 2010, according to Cyrus Moody at the International Maritime Bureau (see also the link to the right under finding pirate statistics), the average length of captivity is 100 days. As of mid-November 2010, 22 vessels and 508 crew are being held.

Moreover, the tactic seems too be lucrative. Roger Middleton, a pirate expert interviewed for the AP article, believes the pirates are recieving ransoms of between $7 million and $9.5 million.