Piracy in the Indian Ocean sea route to East Africa has dropped to its lowest level in three years.

According to a new report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) — a specialised department of the International Chamber of Commerce — there were 70 attacks on ships by Somali pirates in the first nine months of this year, compared with 199 in the corresponding period last year.

From July to September, Somali pirates attacked only one ship, compared with 36 incidents over the same period last year, the report said.

This drop brings the global figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea down to 233 incidents — the lowest since 2008.

“It’s good news that hijackings have dropped, but there can be no room for complacency: these waters are still extremely high-risk and the naval presence must be maintained,” IMB director Cap Pottengal Mukundan, said.

Last year, maritime operators incurred approximately $635 million on war risk as well as kidnap and ransom insurance, $1.06 and $1.16 billion on security equipment’s and guards, and $486-$680 million on re-routing, according to the Colorado-based research and advocacy group One Earth Future Foundation.

The operators also incurred $1.27 billion on military operations, $21.3 million on counter-piracy organisations and $195 million for seafarer’s compensation for hostage, among other costs.

The Somali pirates netted $160 million in ransom from 31 incidents, and costs the world economy between $6.6 and $6.9 billion last year. However, the Somali pirates are still holding 11 foreign vessels for ransom with 167 crew members as hostages as of September 30.

However, IMB warns seafarers to remain vigilant in the high-risk waters around Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, Indonesia, and the South East Asia.

IMB said piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is becoming increasingly dangerous (34 incidents from January to September 2012, up from 30 last year) and has pushed westward from Benin to neighbouring Togo.

“The attacks are often violent, planned and aimed at stealing refined oil products which can be easily sold on the open market,” the report said, adding that the pirates often damage communication and navigation equipment to cover their tracks once the vessel is hijacked.

Globally, pirates have killed at least six crew and taken 448 seafarers hostage this year. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre recorded that 125 vessels were boarded, 24 hijacked and 26 fired upon. In addition, 58 attempted attacks were reported.
The IMB has been monitoring global piracy since 1991.

Meanwhile, 10 Somalis have been given jail sentences of up to seven years in Germany for hijacking a cargo ship.

The pirates raided a German vessel MV Taipan, 530 miles off the Horn of Africa in April 2010, with the hope to extort a ransom of about $1 million, Hamburg state court Justice Bernd Steinmetz said.

A number of countries have also arrested and tried Somali pirates since last year.

The new development comes barely a month after the Kenya Defence Forces together with African Union soldiers and Somali army, fighting Al Shabaab, captured Kismayu. The Somalia coastline is among the world’s most dangerous stretches of water due to piracy.

While meeting African Maritime Authorities in Mombasa early this month,  Kenya’s Transport Minister Amos Kimunya said the drop in piracy incidents is a relief to shipping companies using the Indian Ocean as they have been paying heavy ransom to secure release of their vehicles and the crew,  increasing the costs of doing business.

“With the eventual liberation of port of Kismayu by the joint forces we know that we have tackled piracy at source,” Mr Kimunya said.