The Nippon Foundation revealed that the number of pirates in Southeast Asia attacking ships for ransom is on rise. During the past several years, pirate attacks have shifted from a "syndicated" crime of attacking large cargo ships to a minor crime of theft or robbery. However, the foundation warned that the number of pirate attacks, in the new form of sea jacking ships for ransom, has been increasing. 
	
	
 According to the International Maritime Bureau, a civic organ which acts on reports of suspicious shipping movements, piracy, and armed robbery at sea anywhere in the world, the number of pirate attacks in the first half of this year stood 165, exceeding the record high of 161 pirate attacks in 2000. Ninety of the attacks, approximately half of attacks that took place in the world, were reported in Southeast Asian waters. 
	
	
 The most prominent form of such attacks is sea jack for ransom. In April, in waters off Sumatra Island, an armed group ambushed a cruise ship. Involved were two employees, of a local company that had merged with an established Japanese oil-related company, and an Indonesian state-run company. 
	
	
 In June, six cases of pirate attacks took place in one day in waters near northern island of Borneo, in which trawl-boats and lumber carriers were ambushed. In addition, an Indonesian-registered ship was attacked and the crews from two ships, including a captain, were kidnapped and held for ransom. 
	
	
 Among the eight attacks noted above, it was confirmed that a ransom payment was made in five of the cases. However, negotiations about ransom were not disclosed. Yoshihiko Yamada, domestic division chief of Nippon Foundation's Department of Marine Affairs said, "There were very few piracy attacks for ransom on commercial vessels. A prevailing view is that these piracy attacks are actually committed by anti-government guerrillas amidst mounting political unrest."