Animated Piracy Map Shows Piracy Hot Spots in Oceans

Since 2000, international maritime trade has risen sharply. Shipments of dry cargo have more than doubled, with container ships often carrying millions of dollars of goods at a time. As shipments have surged globally, so have incidents of piracy.

This animated map tracks more than 8,000 incidents of piracy between January 2000 and June 2024. Using data from the US Office of Naval Intelligence, it shows when and where piracy has occurred in the 21st century.

The global map shows incidents over time, beginning in January 2000. Events ping on the map in blue (nonfatal) or yellow (fatal) dots, before fading in size and brightness. This helps to highlight where new incidents are occurring while also showing areas of frequent piracy. As time passes, areas of the ocean where piracy happens most often glow brighter.

Along the way, the map identifies high-profile incidents that generated international headlines. This includes the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama in April 2009 that was made famous in the movie Captain Phillips. Each callout shows the location of the event and a summary of what happened.

Piracy occurs across the oceans, but incidents do cluster in distinct areas. The Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, the Malacca Strait, and the Bay of Bengal all experienced more than 100 incidents in 20+ years. A chart at the end of the video tracks piracy by year in global waters, as well as the top three areas of activity. Incidents peaked between 2007 and 2011 and have generally declined since 2020.

While the map shows a lot of activity, it’s important to consider a few details. Although there are more than 8,000 total incidents in the map, they occur about once per day on average. The number of fatal incidents is also very low, with less than 3% of all incidents resulting in death. As a changing climate opens new trade routes in the Arctic Sea, will incidents of piracy follow suit?