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Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships

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The Handbook of Security

Abstract

Piracy is both an historical and a contemporary problem. In the past decade it has also proven to be a legal problem. Under international law, many of the attacks against ships that are commonly characterized as piracy actually fall outside of the legal definition of piracy. This has widespread implications for States seeking to undertake law enforcement activities to combat attacks and address maritime security concerns in order to establish a safe maritime environment for shipping and seafarers. This chapter examines some of the challenges presented by the current legal framework for ‘piracy’ and ‘armed robbery against ships’. It first sets out the applicable international law and distinguishes between the two terms. It then provides an overview of piracy and armed robbery against ships in two regions of the world that have been subject to a large number of attacks in the past decade, Southeast Asia and Somalia.

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Authors
  1. Robert Beckman
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  2. Monique Page
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UK

    Martin Gill (Professor of Criminology and Director of Perpetuity Research) (Professor of Criminology and Director of Perpetuity Research)

Copyright information

© 2014 Robert Beckman and Monique Page

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Beckman, R., Page, M. (2014). Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships. In: Gill, M. (eds) The Handbook of Security. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-67284-4_11

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