Piracy off the Horn of Africa is costing the shipping and offshore industry up to $12-billion (R124-billion) annually. And pirates are currently holding 589 people hostage at sea.
This was raised by the organisers of the Marine & Coastal Security Africa Conference which will take place later this month.
The South African Navy has been patrolling the Mozambique Channel since February 2011, and more recently off the West Coast of Africa. In just this region, piracy has cost the shipping industry $1.2-billion a year.
Professor Henri Fouche, of the department of criminology and security science at the University of South Africa, said South Africa is not spared from the costs due to pirate attacks.
"It costs the ship owners a lot of money when a ship is re-routed around South Africa .," said Fouche.
"But it is costing us [South Africa] money because we are trying to keep the pirates away from our shores. Added to the costs to the SA Navy and the defence force it is also costly to train the local police and the local Interpol [on how to deal with pirates]," he said.
More than 600 maritime and naval experts are to convene in Cape Town later this month to find a way to combat piracy.
Conference organiser Tracey-Lee Zurcher said 90% of trade in Africa was seaborne and that the marine defence industry, shipping companies and the oil and gas sector were now on high alert. South Africa, Nigeria, Angola and Ghana are among the leading navies on the continent.
"South Africa and their maritime neighbours are all setting out acquisition requirements to procure inshore and offshore patrol vessels, which are easier to navigate in shallow waters when pursuing [pirates]," said Zurcher.
The three-day conference starts on November 25.
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