Piracy Reporting Centre

You can never be too careful when planning a trip. There is no such thing as a truly safe place, and travel often means moving around with lots of cash and valuables in plain sight of possible ne'er-do-wells.

So you get traveler's checks. You register with the local consulate. You avoid dark alleys at night. You do everything you can to protect yourself from the assorted pickpockets, muggers and scalawags.

But for those of us who still do not feel completely safe, we now have a new weapon in our arsenal - the International Chamber of Commerce's Piracy Reporting Centre web site.

The PRC was set up in 1992 as a response to the recent increase in maritime theft and hijacking, particularly in waters around Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean (in 1999, for instance, there were 285 separate acts of piracy). The PRC is mainly an information service, providing updates and warnings for shippers on the Internet. It maintains a global warning system to alert ships immediately of nearby pirate activity, it publishes a yearly report on global piracy and it provides a weekly newsletter on its web site.

In terms of pure information, the PRC newsletter is one of the best out there, in any category - full of key details to keep any traveler out of harm's way. For instance, those of us traveling near the Persian Gulf would like to know that:

"Recently, persons in small fast boats have been trying to board ships off Bab El Mandeb in the southern tip of Red Sea, around lat 13 00N long 43 00E. Masters have reported that small boats wait at the northern end of traffic lane where ships slow down to make a turn."

Or, that:

"On 15.08.2000 at 0950 LT in position: 05:35N - 097: 38E, Malacca Straits. Four high-speed boats approached a tanker very close from both sides. Master raised general alarm, sounded whistle. Crew mustered on deck and activated fire hoses. Other ships in the vicinity were warned via VHF ch.16. Pirates retreated and headed towards another vessel."

And did you know that "piratical" is a real word? Apparently it is.

What the PRC doesn't do, though, is give us an idea of what these pirates are like. They tell us that "modern piracy is violent, bloody and ruthless," but that's a vague generalization - and besides, what else is new? What people really want to know is: What do the pirates look like - do they still wear hooks and wooden stumps, or do they go in for prosthetics? Do they gravitate more toward a gentlemanly Captain Morgan image, or more of a swarthy Blackbeard one? Is plank-walking still in? And what is the Malay equivalent of "yo ho ho and a bottle of rum"?

— Clay Risen (clay@flakmag.com)