This map illustrates reported incidents of piracy off the Somali coast from 1 January to 24 April 2008 (highlighted with red halo). Events from 2005 to 2007 are also shown. The incidents are classified into 7 types: ´Hijacked´ where pirates have taken control of a ship; ´Attempted Hijacking´ where pirates have deployed weapons and attempted to hijack a vessel and failed; ´Suspicious Approach´ where a suspicious vessel has followed or chased another ship; ´Pirates Captured´ where pirates have been arrested; ´Pirate Land Base´ where pirates concentrate ashore; ´Suspected Pirate Mother Ship´, the suspected location of a large vessel used to launch multiple attacks with smaller, high speed boats in deep water; and ´Military Strike Against Pirates´, where a foreign military power has deployed weapons in a military strike against either pirate vessels or their associated resources on land. A majority of reported ´Suspicious Approach´ incidents may represent accidental vessel approaches misperceived as a pirate threat. Of special interest is the apparent dramatic reduction of pirate activity in southern Somali waters, and a corresponding increase in activity centered in the Gulf of Aden along the coast of Puntland, the semi-autonomous state of Somalia.