Pirate attacks more than double

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Pirate attacks worldwide more than doubled in the first half of 2009 amid a surge of raids on vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia, an international maritime watchdog said yesterday.

The number of attacks rose to 240 between January and June, up from 114 incidents in the same period a year ago, according to a report released by the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

Ships were boarded in 78 cases and 31 vessels were hijacked, with 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured and six killed, the bureau said in its quarterly report. The attackers were heavily armed with guns or knives in most of the cases, it said.