大象传媒

The news that Somali pirates say they have seized a yacht carrying a British couple means another incident will probably have to be added to a growing list.

In fact, there has been a dramatic increase in that list this year.

New figures from the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre show that this year already exceeds the whole of 2008 for attacks, and it says the increase is down to activity off the Somali coast.

And it's not just huge tankers now but small ships which are being taken for ransom.

So what impact is this increase in attacks having on the global shipping industry?

First broadcast on World Business News