Article updated: 1/16/2013 7:01 AM

Piracy plunges to lowest in years on $1 trillion trade route

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Somalian pirates captured a Saudi supertanker with $100 million incrude oil in November 20012.

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Somali pirates' attacks on shipping plunged last year to the lowest since at least 2007 as increased use of armed guards and naval intervention deterred incidents in an area handling about $1 trillion in trade.Attacks fell to 75 in 2012 from a record 237 in the prior year, the London-based International Maritime Bureau said in an e-mailed report today. While the number of hijacked ships fell by 50 percent to 14, the threat of vessel seizures remains as pirates wielding automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades are still seeking targets, the piracy observer said.