Members of the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia met last week and concluded that despite their efforts Somali pirates remain a threat to maritime vessels; “We all know that the international community has been working very hard to address both the symptoms and the root causes of the Somali piracy,” said Mary Seet-Cheng, senior specialist adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and a member of the contact group; “Despite our best efforts, piracy off the coast of Somalia continues to be a threat to international shipping and seafarers from all over the world”; the number of hijacked vessels and kidnapping have fallen since March 2011, but violent incidents have continued to rise and pirates expanded their area of operation