Fall in piracy leads to reduction of Indian Ocean risk area

With Somali piracy on a continued downward trend, the geographic boundaries of the ‘High Risk Area’ (HRA) for piracy in the Indian Ocean have been reduced by leading shipping organisations.

The new boundaries, agreed by BIMCO, ICS, Intercargo, Intertanko and OCIMF on behalf of global shipping and oil industries, will be reduced on September 1, 2021, to the Yemeni and Somali Territorial Seas and Excusive Economic Zones in its eastern and southern reaches.

Guy Platten, ICS security general, said: “The security landscape is constantly evolving, and as new security threats have emerged or intensified outside the Indian Ocean it has been clear the HRA is outdated and misleading.