Movies like Peter Pan, Treasure Island and the new, popular Pirates of the Caribbean all play up the romance of the actual serious issue of Piracy. Every year, small children dress up on Halloween as these brutal, ruthless, thieves and murderers. Kids all over hope to duplicate the unauthentic image of their heroes, who have robbed, tortured, and killed throughout the ages. Piracy has evolved into a light-hearted topic people joke about and perhaps even admire today. However, this common respect irks me when I hear about the piracy that still exists today. Although many people are unaware that piracy exists today, it is a serious issue that can be compared to historical piracy.

To begin, Piracy developed mainly due to privateering, and we can trace it back to long ago. One of the earliest known victims of piracy was Julius Caesar, whom pirates held for ransom in about 75 BC (Gottschalk 1). Privateering differs with piracy in that privateers act under the authority of a state, whereas pirates act independently from a state or nation (Thomson 22). Sir Francis Drake, like many captains, made himself wealthy by privateering. He became a national hero by becoming the first commandant to complete a voyage around the world. He delivered plunder to Queen Elizabeth, which included five tons of silver, worth 110 million dollars today, earning him knighthood (Laland 62). Privateering was not only legalized, but encouraged in Europe during wartime, but when the war was over, seamen had basically no alternative to piracy and when Europeans tried to suppress the acts of piracy, they would simply move somewhere else (Thomson 54). Thus, piracy came to be. The Golden age of piracy took place between 1692 and 1725, but piracy has continued to exist since the 1400s (Gottschalk 4).

Life as a pirate had both good sides and bad. Pirates formed from seafaring men who disliked steady work with its small rewards and preferred a life of danger and the prospect of gaining sudden wealth (Pirates 951). Unemployed seamen often considered piracy because life aboard pirate ships was often better than on merchant or naval vessels (Gottschalk 6). Frequently, pirates signed onto a ship with no questions asked and received no wages, but every crew member shared the profits of a voyage (Pirates 951). However, some pirates forced surviving victims to turn pirate once they took over a ship (Cordingly 126). Often, they would force a skillful navigator to sign on to their ship (Pirates 952). Pirate ships were largely democratic and the discipline often lax (Gottschalk 6). Pirates held open meetings to decide where and whom to plunder and how to provision the ship for the tasks ahead. The crew elected the captain, quartermaster, first and second mates, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, and cook and could replace them by a vote if they wanted (Laland 62). Whenever possible, pirates carried a surgeon who they treated with respect (Pirates 952). They set aside a certain amount of money as compensation for injuries during attacks such as the loss of an arm, leg, eye or finger (Laland 62). The usually boring pirate round contained a lot of compulsive gambling, vicious fights and wild binges (Mitchell 23). Days and weeks would pass without anything to do, but mend sails and gear, make minor repairs, and drink (Cordingly 91). Music had its appeal to pirates and vessels with a fiddler on board sometimes paid him a higher share for his musical ability (Laland 62). The pirate leaders were not clean-cut heroes like in movies, but usually had strong navigation and seamanship skills (Cordingly 12). They needed to be not only decisive seamen, but also tough and relentless and capable of meeting out severe punishments to keep order (Laland 62). Bartholomew Roberts of Wales took over four hundred ships, and became known for his discipline because he allowed no women or gambling aboard his ships (Pirates 952). The captain received the largest share of booty. He received a specific amount for expenses to maintain the ship and usually five or six shares of loot, but no more food or drink than the others (Laland 62). The most successful pirate captains in the eighteenth century carried out attacks with two or more ships (Cordingly 109). Very few captains had wives and families (Cordingly 71). Women pirates, though rare, became legends, such as Mary Read and Anne Bonney, who were both brought up as boys (Laland 62). Reasons for living life as a pirate varied had some perks.

Although pirates may seem to have lived like fair people, they were in fact brutal and they often tortured their victims. Late seventeenth century Anglo American pirates would stretch their victim’s limbs with cords while beating them with sticks or burn people alive. They also used a process called woolding in which they twist cords around a victim’s head until their eyes burst out of their head because it was fast, effective, and only required a short piece of cord (Cordingly 131). Early Romans often forced their captives to walk down the ladder into the sea or would throw them into the sea with shouts of laughter (Mitchell 26). Montbars of Languedoc would cut open his victim’s stomach, extract one end of guts, nail it to a post, and force the man to dance to his death by beating his backside with burning logs (Cordingly 132). An officer on an India Man captured in Canton River in 1809 said

“Those who refused to comply had their hands tied behind their backs, a rope from the mast-head rove through their arms, and were hoisted a few feet from the deck. Six men flogged them with twisted rattans until they were apparently dead; then hoisted them to the mast-head, left them hanging nearly an hour, then lowered them and repeated the punishment until they died or obeyed (Mitchell 176).”
Henry Morgan even roasted one woman on a baking stove for hiding money (Cordingly 131). In 1718, aboard the William and Martha in Bermuda, pirates boarded, beat the crew, dragged a seaman to a bow, and bound his hands and feet to the bowspirit while they put burning matches to his eyes and a pistol to his mouth to force him to tell what money was on board (Cordingly 129). Many pirates also marooned their victims on desert islands to die of slow death from starvation or exposure if they did not intend to use them for a crew (Cordingly 135). Not only were pirates cruel to their victims, but they also stole a lot of booty during their attacks on other ships. One of the richest hauls in history took place in 1717 when Sam Bellamy came upon the slave ship, Whydah that had sold its human cargo in Jamaica. Bellamy chased it for two days before he captured it and its cargo of ivory, indigo, sugar, cinchona bark, and gold and silver valued between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds. He claimed the ship for himself that contained a stylish pistol with and ornate brass scrollwork and three feet of silk ribbon tied around the handle (Laland 62). Pirates had an advantage over their victims because they could follow ships at a safe distance, then either take them by surprise or make a frontal attack, and before Morse code or the radio, the unsuspecting ships could not identify other ships besides by their flag (Cordingly 114). These cold-blooded killers successfully stole from and tortured the innocent.

Over the years, piracy has changed into its current state, though it continues to be equally, if not more dangerous. From 1995 to 1997, piracy incidents counted by the international maritime bureau more than doubled (Moulier 33). Thefts of boats and boating equipment have increased because the number of boats existing has increased (Mueller 33). Modern day pirates steal things like sugar, paint, cars, cameras, cash, and actual ships (Moulier 33). Other booty may include tons of cement, coffee, car batteries and steel reinforcing rods, as opposed to the silk, jewels and spices of long ago (Farnham 112). They may use weapons such as nuts and bolts, swords, slingshots, stones, automatic rifles, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and mortars (Gottschalk 121). They will attack supertankers, container ships, passenger ferries, sailing yachts, fishing trawlers, and even rickety refugee craft (Mueller 150). A new term in the English language, yachtjacking, describes the disappearance of boats and their crews (Gottschalk 85). Today, pirates capable of the most complex and professional attacks use radar to find their targets, jam radio frequencies, and cruise straight at forty knots in custom speed boats (Farnham 114). Typically, modern day pirates board a ship at night when at port (Moulier 33). They often board ships disguised as coast guard, ordinary passengers, or customs officers and then steel money from the ship (Gottschalk 117). In the 1970s and 1980s, yachtjacking frequently occurred when people hired new crewmembers, who then killed them and took over the ship and then used it for drug smuggling, but today most drug smuggling is done by aircraft (Gottschalk 48). A single pirate attack usually results in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars, but can occasionally run into the millions (Farnham 112). Underground banking systems can transfer cash amounts of up to three million dollars in a few hours (Farnham 112). Some modern sea captains are so traumatized, they do not want to go back to sea (Moulier 33). An experienced pleasure-boat owner recently said “You don’t sleep at night on the Caribbean. (Gottschalk 45).” As ships become more automated, they have smaller crews. A 23,000-ton ship could have as few as twelve men running it and they are almost always unarmed. Because of industry and union policy, seamen do not often carry guns (Farnham 112). Because the ship’s crew spends months at a time at sea, they bring several items of sentimental value, which get stolen during pirate raids (Gottschalk 25). Many people also worry that pirate attacks could lead to damage to the environment, especially when the victim is an oil tanker. For example, in 1967, a Liberian oil tanker ran aground on the England coast suffocating birds and fish over 260 square miles of ocean (Gottschalk 111). Although this incident was not caused by piracy, if a captain of an oil tanker were to be tied up, it could run aground, like this one, and cause similar damage. Over 120 attacks occur worldwide each year and experts believe as few as forty percent of incidents get reported (Farnham 112). A pirate recently told a reporter “We have a special torture for prisoners. We hang them on a branch by their feet and burn them alive. Then we eat their ears (Gottschalk 24).” Piracy has changed, but continues to disturb boaters on the seas.

Today, brutal and traumatizing piracy cases continue take place. The rising number of today’s cases may lead back to the downturn in international economy (Gottschalk 24). Once pirates board the ships, they go straight to the captain’s cabin, which contains the ship’s safe. This safe may hold up to fifty thousand dollars in cash that the captain uses to pay crew wages, port and agent fees (Farnham 112). On April fourth, in 1979, pirates robbed a Vietnam boat that had 380 people on board. They repeatedly raped women and female children (Mueller 153). In 1985, pirates took over an Italian cruise ship and killed one American (Gottschalk 36). On April fifteenth, in 1991, a score of pirates armed with automatic weapons boarded a merchant ship off Vietnam. They asked the captain if he had any VCRs on board. When he said he had eight hundred, the pirates handcuffed him and thirteen crewmen, forced them below and locked them in a ten by ten foot compartment for four days. When authorities found the ship, it was almost four hundred tons lighter of electronic goods, motorcycles, and beer (Farnham 112). On September thirteenth in 1995, in the Gulf of Thailand, thirty pirates sent a ship’s crew of twenty-three adrift on tiny rafts without food or water, renamed the ship, and stole four million dollars worth of sugar (Moulier 33). In February of 1996, pirates shot and killed nine crewmembers aboard a fishing boat in the Philippines (Moulier 33). In April of 1997, off Hong Kong, pirates stabbed a crewmember when he resisted their stealing of seventeen thousand dollars in crew wages, laptops, and video cameras (Gottschalk 26). (Gottschalk 25). In that same month, pirates in Santos, Brazil stole eighteen thousand dollars in cash and valuables at gunpoint (Moulier 33). In July of 1997, off Indonesia, a crew lost wedding bands, wristwatches, jewelry and personal goods to piracy (Gottschalk 26). In January of 1998, robbers boarded the Shandeline in a Miami dock and pistol-whipped the crew during a search for cash and jewelry (Gottschalk 53). Today’s cases may sound surprising, but continue to occur and cause a great deal of damage and loss.

Today, piracy occurs worldwide, but may vary from nation to nation. Pirates are prominent in the Eastern Mediterranean, West Africa, and Brazil (Farnham 112). In Singapore, pirates even attack larch vessels, such as Shell, Mobil, and BP oil tankers (Mueller 150). Most of the world’s attacks happen between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, where 240 ships enter a day in the Strait of Malacca and tiny islands nearby offer a hideout (Farnham 112). In West Africa, pirates are usually young men working in gangs, numbering fifteen to one hundred. They wait for ships to anchor and then come aboard (Farnham 112). Booty taken from docked ships in Lagos gets sold almost immediately in shops and on streets at black market prices (Mueller 144). Very few cases of piracy occur off Japan and the Kurile Islands because of high port and onshore security and a greater presence of coast guard, navy, and police (Gottschalk 53). Licensing laws vary from port to port and state to state especially in foreign countries, where the use of a firearm in foreign waters may lead to unpleasant experiences with police, courts, and jails, even when used in self defense (Mueller 306). In Thailand, as many as two hundred commercial piracy incidents occur each year. Fishermen say the Thai government has too few patrol bats and therefore fishermen arm themselves (Mueller 152). A Norway line got fed up with fending off pirates from Nigeria and hired native bowmen to short arrows at them (Farnham 112). In the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia, piracy occurs on an average of every two weeks, where pirates often steel fish from fishermen. As a result, fishermen carry cigarettes, food and money to offer as tribute (Mueller 151). Piracy varies worldwide, but remains a universal dilemma. Experts have long disputed the definition of Piracy, making it difficult to prevent. The word “pirate” comes from the Greek word, perian, which means to attempt or attack (Mitchell 11). The International Maritime Bureau defines piracy as “an act of barding any vessel with the intent to commit theft or any other crime and with the intent of capability to use force in the furtherance of that act (Gottschalk 115).” The absence of political authority is the key element to the definition of piracy. Also, the violence must take place at sea and no state today exerts authority over the high seas (Thomson 108). For an act to be considered piracy, the pirates must commit it for “private ends” (Gottschalk 35). The main difference between pirates and terrorists is that terrorists are motivated by politics, whereas pirates are motivated by money (Gottschalk 123). The United Nations convention on Law of the Sea states piracy includes illegal act committed on the high seas and thus beyond the jurisdiction of any nation or state (Gottschalk 114). The methods in which law enforcers have dealt with piracy have changed over the years. Under international law, countries have the right, if not the duty “to discourage piracy by exercising their rights of prevention and punishment as far as it is expedient (Thomson 108).” In the golden age of piracy, many pirates escaped punishment because they could usually make a successful case that they were forced into their actions (Gottschalk 19). The United States currently punishes pirates for robbery, larceny, murder or kidnapping. The crimes can receive punishment under state or federal law (Gottschalk 35). However, United States piracy laws have not been revised since 1847 and many law enforcers do not take piracy seriously (Moulier 33). In the 1980s, the Nigerian inspector general said the police of his country did not have the means to begin an anti-pirate patrol, which many felt the need for (Mueller 143). Many people who begin hunting pirates in Indonesia end up becoming one, beginning in anti-piracy squads, and ending up mounting raids themselves (King 106). Eric Ellen of the International Maritime Bureau said “It seems incredible in this day and age that a ship can just disappear. If it were an aircraft, every airport in the world would be alerted, but we have no such system in the maritime world. (Farnham 112).” No state holds responsibility for the acts of pirates, so no state can be held accountable for them. This leaves states with the discretion to extend their sovereignty to prosecute pirates if they choose to outlaw piratical acts in their municipal law (Thomson 117).

People must begin to take piracy more seriously. Piracy is not a romantic act of heroism that people should look up to and strive to replicate. It is still as serious now as it once was long ago and fatal in many cases. If we do not find some way to control the high seas, these brutal and expensive attacks will continue and cost more and more lives. Many boaters currently live in fear, and this simply should not be the case. Pirates must be stopped.