A pirate is one who robs or plunders at sea, or sometimes the shore, without a commission from a recognised sovereign nation. Pirates usually target other ships, but have also attacked targets on shore. While piracy in popular conception conjures up the romantic imagery of fictionalized tales of Caribbean pirates in the 17th century, piracy persists in the world today. Unlike the stereotypical pirate with Cutlass and masted Sailing ship, today most pirates get about in speedboats wearing balaclavas instead of bandannas, using AK-47s rather than cutlasses.
Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant problem (with estimated worldwide losses of $13 to $16 billion USD per year), particularly in the waters between the Pacific and Indian oceans, and specifically in the straits of Malacca and Singapore, used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. While boats off the coasts of South America and the Mediterranean Sea are still molested by pirates, the advent of the United States Coast Guard has nearly eradicated piracy in American waters, and it is also much reduced in the Caribbean Sea.
The great or classic era of piracy in the Caribbean extends from around 1560 up until the 1720s. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1640s until the 1680s. Caribbean piracy arose out of, and mirrored on a smaller scale, the conflicts over trade and colonization among the rival European powers of the time, including England, Spain, the Dutch United Provinces, and France. Two of the most well known pirate bases were Tortuga in the 1640s and Port Royal after 1655.
Unlike traditional Western societies of the time, many pirate clans operated as limited democracies, demanding the right to elect and replace their leaders. The captain of a pirate ship was often a fierce fighter in whom the men could place their trust, rather than a more traditional authority figure sanctioned by an elite. However, when not in battle, the ship's Quartermaster usually had the real authority.
Many groups of pirates shared in whatever Booty they seized, according to a complicated scheme where each man received his alloted share of the prize. Pirates injured in battle might be afforded special compensation. Often all of these terms were agreed upon and written down by the pirates. These articles could also be used as incriminating proof that they were outlaws.
Pirates readily accepted outcasts from traditional societies, perhaps easily recognizing kindred spirits, and they were known to free slaves from slave ships and welcome them into the pirate fold.
Such egalitarian practices within a pirate clan were tenuous, however, and did little to mitigate the brutality of the pirate's way of life.
In most cases, modern pirates are not interested in the cargo and are mainly interested in taking the personal belongings of the crew and the contents of the ship's safe, which might contain large amounts of cash needed to pay payroll and port fees. In some cases, the pirates force the crew off the ship and sail the ship to a port, where it is repainted and given a new identity through false papers.
Modern pirates can be successful because a large amount of international commerce occurs via shipping. For commercial reasons, many cargo ships move through narrow bodies of water such as the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal and the Straits of Malacca. As usage increases, many of these ships have to lower cruising speeds to allow for navigation and traffic control, making them prime targets for piracy. Modern piracy can also take place in conditions of political unrest or vacuum. For example, following the disintegration of the government of Somalia, warlords in the region have attacked ships delivering UN food aid .
Modern definitions of piracy include the following acts:
Pirate attacks tripled between 1993 and 2003. The first half of 2003 was the worst 6-month period on record, with 234 pirate attacks, 16 deaths, and 52 people injured worldwide. There were also 193 crew members held hostage during this period.
182 cases of piracy were reported worldwide in the first 6 months of 2004. Of these incidents, 50 occurred in Indonesian waters.
The Piracy Reporting Centre of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) stated in 2004 that most pirate attacks in that year occurred in Indonesian waters (70 of 251 reported attacks). Of these attacks, a majority occurred in the Straits of Malacca. They also stated that of the attacks in 2004, oil and gas tankers and bulk carriers were the most popular targets with 67 attacks on tankers and 52 on bulk carriers.
In modern times ships, as well as aeroplanes, are also hijacked for political reasons. The perpetrators of these acts could be described as pirates (for instance, the French for plane hijacker is pirate de l'air), but in English are usually termed hijackers or terrorists. An example is the hijacking of the Italian civilian passenger ship, the Achille Lauro.
Modern pirates also use a great deal of technology. It has been reported that crimes of piracy have involved the use of mobile phones, modern speedboats, and AK-47s. There is also speculation that modern pirates eavesdrop on satellite communication networks such as Inmarsat to determine cargo and the degree of risk involved with an operation.
Since piracy often takes place outside the Territorial waters of any state, the prosecution of pirates by sovereign states represents a complex legal situation. The prosecution of pirates on the high seas contravenes the conventional freedom of the high seas. However, as jus cogens, jurisdiction can nevertheless typically be exercised against pirates without objection from the flag state of the pirate vessel. This represents an exception to the principle extra territorium jus dicenti impune non paretur (the judgment of one who is exceeding his territorial jurisdiction may be disobeyed with impunity).
Dutch pirates were known as kapers or vrijbuiters ("plunderers"), the latter combining the words vrij meaning free, buit meaning loot, and the ending -er meaning agent. The word vrijbuiter was corrupted into the English freebooters and French flibustiers. It came back into English as filibusters, who were not pirates, but adventurers involving themselves in Latin American revolutions and coups and then finally came to mean the disruptive parliamentary maneuver of talking without stopping.
Pirates are called Lanun by both the Indonesians and the Malaysians who form the nations bracketing the Straits of Malacca. Originally a culture of seafaring people, their name became synonymous with piracy in the 15th century.
Pirates with commissions from a government are called privateers or corsairs, which in modern Arabic is قرصان from the Turkish Korsan, which seems to have been derived from the European word, which in turn comes from the mediaeval Latin cursa, "raid, expedition, inroad".
Pirates are also known as picaroons.
In popular culture, pirates are associated with a stereotypical manner of speaking and dress. This tradition owes much to Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island. Many stereotypical pirates have accents which are apparently from Cornwall, or Bristol in England. Popular interest in pirates rose again when the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was released, bringing more attention to the pirate bases of Tortuga and Port Royal.
In the 1990s, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was invented as a parodic holiday celebrated on September 19.
A recurring Internet Meme posits a rivalry between stereotypical pirates and Ninja. The two sides are portrayed as having antithetical personalities: pirates are crude, brutish, extroverted sea brigands, whereas ninja are cautious, calculating, introverted stealth warriors who work from the shadows.
Surprisingly, many of these stereotypes are true. Pirates during the Golden Era would often lose limbs in battle. These pirates would be employed as cooks, as they could not be of any use during raids anymore. Bandanas would be worn to keep sweat out of their face. Their clothes, however, would typically be practical and comfortable, meant to be convenient for working on a ship. Sometimes pirates would even keep animals on board, to supply them with fresh food; exotic animals such as parrots and monkeys would be of no use to them, however, though it has been suggested that pirates may have kept exotic animals in order to sell them for high prices. Some pirates also believed that putting pressure on their earlobes (wearing earrings) would prevent them from becoming seasick. Another suggestion for the purpose of a gold earring is that when a pirate would die, the gold on him would provide some kind of funding for a funeral and coffin.
One of the verbal tics commonly attributed to pirates in popular culture - "Arrr!" - has become the basis for many jokes and puns and much levity, such as International Talk Like a Pirate Day. For example, "Q: What was the Pirate movie rated? / A: Arrrrrrr [R]!"
Pop stars have long been drawn towards pirate culture, due to its anti-establishmentism and motley dress. An early 1960s British pop group called themselves Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and wore eye-patches while they performed. Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, was a fan of Robert Newton. Newer acts, such as Flogging Molly and Mad Caddies have pirate themed songs aswell. German Metal band Running Wild are probably the only 'pirate metal' band in wide circulation, adopting this image since their third album in 1987 and continuing with it to this day.
During the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the Sex Pistols, banned from performing on land, hired a pleasure boat and cruised down the Thames before being stopped by river police. They later adapted the dirty song "Good Ship Venus" as their hit "Friggin' in the Rigging". Another of Malcolm McLaren's protegées, Adam Ant, took the pirate image further. One of the tracks on the album "Kings of the wild frontier" was called "Jolly Roger".
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