A total of 97 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery were reported globally for the first nine months of 2021, the lowest level of reported incidents since 1994, a global maritime body has said.

A new report from the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reveals that pirates boarded 85 vessels so far this year, while there were nine attempted attacks, two vessels fired upon and one vessel hijacked.

Reported incidents are down to their lowest level in decades, but violence against seafarers has continued with 51 crew kidnapped, eight taken hostages, five threatened, three injured, two assaulted and one killed, according to the latest IMB statistics.

Despite the fall, the global maritime body warns that seafarers must remain vigilant as violence against crew remains high in many areas of the world.

The report added that the Gulf of Guinea region recorded 28 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the first nine months of 2021, compared to 46 for the same period in 2020.

Most notably, Nigeria only reported four incidents in the first nine months of 2021, compared to 17 in 2020 and 41 in 2018.

The overall reduction of piracy and armed robbery incidents in the Gulf of Guinea region is a testament to enhanced maritime security and response coordination measures adopted by regional and national authorities, according to the IMB report.