WBRZ - Baton Rouge

The New Zealand Defense Force and the Royal Australian Navy announced that the summer monsoon season reduced piracy attacks in the waters off Socotra Yemen. Weatherwise Magazine reports that from 2010 to 2011, piracy caused 62 deaths and accounted for 3,500 captives. Somali piracy accounted for more than half of all maritime piracy worldwide. During 2010, piracy was shut down from the end of May to the end of September due to battering winds. Researchers used satellite data and ship observations of wind and sea conditions to identify oceanographic reports that matched the Somali pirate attacks and resulted in the first scientific analysis of climatic data; limiting piracy in the region. In addition, the European Union Naval Force successfully attacked shore-line piracy operations as pirates enjoyed shore leave.