Maritime piracy has been on the rise for years, according to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. But until 2008, when pirates operating off the coast of Somalia hijacked a ship full of Russian tanks and an oil super tanker, the crime drew limited international attention. By early 2009, more than a dozen countries had deployed naval ships to the region. The stakes grew higher after the U.S. Navy killed three Somali pirates in a rescue operation. By October 2009, piracy attacks surpassed 2008 numbers and the use of firearms by pirates had increased by 200 %.
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