The financial cost of piracy off the Horn of Africa has surged over the past year as pirates have become increasingly audacious, better funded and equipped, and able to extend their reach in the high seas. A few years ago vessels were warned to keep 50 nautical miles off the Somali coast; now, pirates are boarding ships as far away as the Seychelles, some 1,500 kilometers off the coast of Africa. The area the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) patrols is some 9 million square kilometers, almost the territorial size of the United States of America. Just as the range of pirate operations has increased, so has the ransoms being paid out, rising from $250,000 to an average of $1.25 million in 2008. The London-based International Maritime Bureau recorded 111 pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa last year, of which 42 were successful hijackings. In the first half of
