Do real pirates still exist on the open waters?

Question

A co-worker and I were discussing if there were still real pirates in the world. I said no, he said yes. Just looking for some insight.

Answer 1

Yes they exist. They are no longer the sword swinging kinds they are much modern with assault weapons and modern technology but they do still exist.
Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$13 to $16 billion per year), particularly in the waters between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, off the Somali coast, and in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. A recent surge in piracy off the Somali coast spurred a multi-national effort led by the United States to patrol the waters near the Horn of Africa to combat piracy. While boats off the coasts of South America and the Mediterranean Sea are still assailed by pirates, the advent of the United States Coast Guard has nearly eradicated piracy in American waters and the Caribbean Sea.

Answer 2

Yes, there are real pirates. They are not romantic types in any way; they are usually smugglers, drug runners and the like. Unfortunately, they will board a private boat, maybe kill the occupants, and then use this legitimate boat to run drugs, or smuggle stuff, even people.

My friend had his yacht stolen. It was missing for over a year. When it was recovered, the cupboards had been removed and replaced, and a few other things had been altered. The coast guard said that was typical of smuggling activity.

Answer 3

Yep. Some guys just tried to board a cruise ship off the coast of Africa. They used a rocket launcher or bazooka on the ship, but no one got hurt and the cruise ship just went out to sea and the pirates couldn't follow. Another cruise ship turned on water cannons on the "pirates" since they tend to be in pretty small boats (not sure why).

I used to work with a guy who had a nice sailboat. He was planning to take his family to the Bahamas, and talked about having to watch out for pirates.

Answer 4

Yes, I remember a few months ago hearing on the news about pirates trying to board a ship. They just don't wear the eye patch nor the parrot on the shoulder.

Answer 5

Yes, absolutely. The Pirates of the Caribbean are still out there, with modern boats. Robbing pleasure boats with couples or foursomes is the pirate-of-the-day pastime. They will take larger boats with more than one. If you are in a sailboat, and they have 'cigarette boats' you cannot get away. If they choose to take your woman or your boat, you may become crab food/shark snack.

Answer 6

Yes. I watched a TV documentary on modern pirates recently. There are apparently a lot of them in coastal waters where there is no police or military patrol. Kinda scary.

Answer 7

Yes, I believe there are still pirates on the high seas waiting to pillage merchant ships.Just not Johnny Depp types, though.

Answer 8

Yeah they do, they do exactly no longer carry swords, positioned on a patch over their eye and own a parrot. Pirates are people who thieve boats, kidnap and rape human beings at sea. i've got additionally heard they delivery drugs from us of a to us of a, are in contact in delivery toddler slaves to different countries and stuff like that. they're like your established criminal purely they decide to do it out on the sea.

Answer 9

yes, in fact they do. with no form of international police that patrol the waters, real priates do still pose a threat out on the open sea.

Answer 10

yes. just about 6 months ago a cruise ship was taken hostage. They now use motor boats and machine guns and steal items to sale on the black market.