The National Maritime Museum
The phenomenon of piracy - piracy - has evolved since man began trading in ships, and it has flourished mainly in areas of loose rule. Piracy existed in ancient times in the Mediterranean and the Sea of China and reached its peak in the seventeenth century in the Atlantic Ocean, with the rise of European colonialism and the development of trade routes with the "New World".
At the end of World War II, the phenomenon of piracy almost disappeared, following the development of technology and enforcement in international trade routes. At the beginning of the present century we are witnessing the renewal of piracy, especially along the coasts of America and Africa and in the Indian Ocean.