Ships, including oil and chemical tankers, are increasingly being attacked with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Whereas five years ago pirates were just as likely to brandish a knife as a gun, this year guns were used in 160 attacks and knives in 35. A surge in particularly violent and highly organised attacks has hit the coast of West Africa this year, according to the IMB's piracy report, which lists 12 attacks on tankers off Benin since March, an area where no incidents were reported in 2010.
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