dubai sept 9 2009 151 a year after the us navy launched a concerted effort at curbing modernday piracy the seas are safer in the gulf of aden but there is evidence that the success of the us and its partner countries in the busy shipping lane has pushed the problem outward as pirate attacks spread through the red sea and into the indian ocean its an undeniable fact youre going to push the problem elsewhere enemies adapt and pirates will adapt as well said jason alderwick a maritime safety expert with the international institute for security studies for countries like the seychelles an island nation in east africa that relies heavily on tourism piracy has become a critical issue as the map of pirate attacks has expanded the luxury yachts and commercial ships off its coast have become fresh prey the result has been a maritime game of catandmouse in april the seychelles arrested nine suspected pirates for the attempted hijacking of a cruise liner and this fall the us military plans to deploy unmanned drones in the seychelles to deter piracy by air theres going to clearly be a limit in terms of maritime intervention said alderwick theyre probably reaching the best case scenario in what they can achieve since last year american warships in partnership with the navies of more than a dozen countries have patrolled and protected whats called the internationally recommended transit corridor a 464mile twolane water highway through the gulf of aden the approach has been a qualified success the us navy says not a single vessel that has passed through the corridor has been hijacked since the patrols were launched in fall of 2008 but ships traveling outside the lane are still prime targets the busy shipping route which lines the horn of africa and sees passage of more than 33000 ships each year had been riddled with attacks from somali pirates leading what the international maritime bureau imb called an unprecedented rise in maritime hijacking navy commander claims success in preventing pirate attacks rear admiral scott sanders the new commander of the us navys multinational counterpiracy task force in the gulf of aden tells abc news his ships have increasingly intercepted wouldbe pirates before they can attempt an attack were finding those suspicious skiffs that we know are out here looking for a target of opportunity and were preventing them from getting anywhere near someone they can prey upon said sanders the navy has encountered 537 pirates since august 2008 many navigating the gulf in small fishing boats and carrying small arms ladders and grappling hooks equipment used to hijack a merchant vessel because suspected pirates have not actually committed a crime by sitting in wait for an oncoming ship the navies have no grounds to hold them most are released after their weapons are confiscated or thrown overboard in april pirates successfully hijacked the maersk alabama a usflagged cargo ship the ship was near the coast of somalia