People have for years had a romanticized and fantasized version of piracy floating around their heads due to a number of literary and film sources. However, recent events have brought pirates back into sharp focus, and shown that there are a number of places in the world where piracy is a very real and very dangerous issue. Although the US navy and coast-guard has all but eradicated piracy around the United States and in the Caribbean, these five locations all have very real threats to ocean vessels posed by pirates in the region.
Somalia – Somali pirate attacks have been in the news a very large amount in the last year, and the region is extremely dangerous for foreign ships currently. The problem is so severe that there have been cases of multiple pirate attacks taking place in a single day.
The Strait of Malacca – A strait of water which is patrolled by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Although attacks have decreased, it is still a piracy hotbed. The amount of trade traffic and the locations for hiding a vessel make it ideal for piracy.
Yemen – On the Asian side of the water that separates Africa from Asia, Yemen faces Somalia and Ethiopia and is subject to attacks by the same pirates.
West Coast of Africa – Although there have been many less attacks here than on the east coast, there have still been reported attacks off the coasts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, and Ghana.
South America – Although a vast majority of attacks take place in the regions already mentioned, there have been some attacks in the last year in various coastal waters around the northern countries of South America. Waters belonging to countries like Venezuela, Peru, and Columbia have all seen pirate attacks within the last year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy#Modern_age
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