Marine Piracy 

Piracy in international waters has been a threat to all international trade since the seventeenth century due to the slow moving unprotected ships that pass through routes close to the shorelines. The laws on piracy in international waters were brought to the world’s knowledge by the United Nations with the 1982 United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This customary law makes piracy an universal crime in which any state has the power to arrest and prosecute. There are three different types of piracy. The first kind where the pirates board the ships and steals small things like cell phones and radios. The second, the pirates hijack a cargo ship or an oil tanker then the pirates bring along another ship to steal the cargo or to stiffen the oil. The third and most dangerous kind where the pirates kidnap crew members and hold them for ransom and seize the vessel. There are many different crimes that can correlate with piracy. Some of these crimes include theft, murder and kidnapping. 

The least dangerous for the crew is when the vessel is borded by pirates and the steal small valuble items such as cell phones, radios and other electronics. This is a felony of theft. The prison time for theft of electronics are usually 10-15 years due to the fact that wepons are used in the precess as well as Piracy is considered a gang related activity.