Aon’s First Piracy Update Confirms Regional Shift to East Africa in Piracy Activity

Aon Risk Solutions, the risk management business of Aon Corporation on Friday announced its first in-depth piracy report for ship owners worldwide.

Source: Source: Aon | Published on September 19, 2011

Collated by Aon’s specialist Kidnap and Ransom Practice, Aon’s Piracy Update uses piracy data from 2009 to 2011 to clarify the changing trends in regional and seasonal Somali piracy activity to allow ship owners to better manage their exposure to piracy. The report also looks at the emerging threat of piracy off the west coast of Africa.

Nearing the end of the monsoon season, a time when an increase of seasonal piracy activity is often seen, the update gives both commercial and private ship owners comprehensive insight into piracy risk and insurance and, in addition to a review of emerging piracy threats on the west coast, it also provides an analysis of piracy activity in four key risk zones off the east coast of Africa.

Aon’s analysis confirms an increase in overall piracy activity while it reveals a general decline in successful attacks on vessels over the last year. The update explains a shift in regional activity, which has been attributed to an increase in anti-piracy measures. The most notable shift has been seen in the Gulf of Aden, historically a piracy hotspot, to the Arabian Sea, which has experienced a 267 percent increase of attacks year on year.

“This report has been produced to support ship owners in understanding the risks of piracy and how they can best mitigate and transfer those risks. Our team has many years of experience dealing with kidnap and ransom risks and, more recently, experience with the risks of piracy. While there has been no shortage of anecdotal accounts in recent years, access to fact-based data removes the speculation and supposition associated with activity in high-risk areas,” Clive Stoddart, Aon Risk Solutions’ global head of Kidnap and Ransom said. “Our clients benefit from the use of this data as we give credence to insurers’ requests to verify their statistical analysis. The report is also designed to clarify key elements of cover and key issues in Marine K&R policies.”