Varied Incident Rates of Global Maritime Piracy: Toward a Model for State Policy Change

• Author: Joshua Regan
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1057567720944448
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Original Articles

Original Article

Varied Incident Rates of Global

Maritime Piracy: Toward a Model

for State Policy Change

Joshua Regan

1

Abstract

Maritime piracy is a problem that plagues our navigable seas. This study provides a quantitative

understanding of factors that influence the frequency of yearly maritime piracy occurrences. Using a

nonprobability sampling technique, 11 countries with reported cases of maritime piracy were pur-

posefully selected. Open sourced data from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the World

Bank, the United Nations, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to

Terrorism, and the Center for Systemic Peace were utilized in this study. Using regression features, as

well as socioeconomic and geopolitical data from these countries over a longitudinal period of 34

years (1985–2018), a time-series cross-sectional design provides an in-depth understanding of factors

that affect the frequency of piracy occurrences. The four-factor model concluded that state weakness,

total population size, gross domestic product, and total fish catch tonnage are found to be associated

with the frequency of pirating activity worldwide. Policy implications and measures to mitigate piracy

are also discussed.

Keywords

maritime piracy, hijackings, violence on the high seas, violence within international waters, time-

series cross-sectional analysis

Contemporary maritime piracy began in the 1980s and continues to the present day. Over this

period, more than 6,000 incidents have been reported worldwide (National Geospatial Intelligence

Agency [NGIA], 2020). Acts of maritime piracy have had both economic and human consequences.

First, maritime piracy occurrences have resulted in an increase of shipping expenses, the theft of

maritime cargo, multimillion dollar ransom payments, and increased insurance premiums. As a result,

Boyle (2015) estimates that piracy costs the global economy US$15B annually. Second, piracy has

resulted in the loss of human lives. Pirate attacks in Somalia, for instance, have accounted for more

than 340 mariner deaths (Weir, 2009). Off the coast of West Africa, mortality rates, due to piracy

1

Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT, USA

Corresponding Author:

Joshua Regan, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, University of New Haven, 300 Boston Post Rd.,

West Haven, CT 06516, USA.

Email: jregan@newhaven.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567720944448

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2022, Vol. 32(

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