Trade routes still suffer at hands of bandits

Nearly six months after the deployment of 40 warships by 20 navies to tackle the pirates plaguing the Gulf of Aden, global trade is still at the mercy of these murderous villains.

Despite the multinational missions, seaborne attacks off the coast of Somalia soared 200 percent last year, with 130 merchant ships targeted. Hijackers are reported to have so far extorted more than $150 million in ransom demands.

There was also a 10-fold increase in the number of merchant vessels harassed in the first three months of this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.