According to UNOSAT, between 1995 and 2013 there were a total of 6,249 reported instances of piracy or maritime armed robbery globally. The vast majority of these incidents occurred in western Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia, West Africa and in Latin America. In West Africa pirates are called ''petro-pirates'' because they are more interested in stealing the target's cargo (oil) rather than kidnapping the crew. This scenario may seem bloodless but unfortunately Nigerian are the world's most violent pirates.
For the shipping and insurance world, the widespread adoption of armed guards aboard vessels ''solved'' Somali piracy. In west Africa pirates are capable of overwhelming armed guards. In recent years pirate attacks in west Africa are proportionally more severe ( vessel hijacking, hostage- taking and violent acts towards crew members) than those in the Indian Ocean and Latin America. In south America and more specific in Venezuela, piracy incidents can be described more like ''robberies'' at sea. Most of the targets are U.S citizens with sailing yachts which are beaten by pirates in order to yield all their personal belongings.
Last, but not least, a fact that explains the violence of each one of the referred pirate team is the range of operations onshore. Somali pirates have an impressive range of operations onshore, attaching ships at distances, but Somali's onshore contingent is limited to the pirate villages and control sites within the borders. Comparatively, Nigeria's onshore contingent has gone international. Operations have spread to South Cameroun, Benin, Equatorial Guinea and Angola's Cabinda region.
In conclusion, despite the reduction of instances of piracy in all the above regions, the problem still persists worldwide. The human and financial costs are still extreme, and there are no quick solutions that can fix this problem that remains for centuries. In order to solve this issue once and for all, the West civilization must invest in education and development to help these poor nations to stand on their own two feet.