Ship hijackings down in 2015

A global maritime watchdog said Tuesday that ship hijackings declined in 2015 from a year earlier, while sea piracy incidents increased slightly but consisted mostly of low-level theft. The International Maritime Bureau said in its annual piracy report that 246 piracy incidents were recorded worldwide, one up from 2014. Pirates hijacked 15 vessels and held 271 hostages, down from 21 ships and 442 hostages in 2014.