But growing hostility in the Gulf of Guinea is causing concern, especially giventhe violent nature of incidents in the region, the IMB says.
It counts 177 incidents globally in the six month stretch,down from 266 in the corresponding period a year ago.
It included 20 successful hijackings, 80boardings, 25 ships fired upon and a total of 52 attempted attacks.
The IMB says a year-on-year drop in Somali incidentsfrom 163 to just 69 helped cut the global figure.
