Apo Reef Light of gallery. The light station on Apo Reef was part of the first approved group of lighthouses in the Maritime Lighting Plan of Spain for the Philippine Archipelago during the Spanish Colonial Period. It was proposed to erect a steel tower with a third-order light on Bajo Apo Island. In 1896, the tower and the lighting apparatus were already purchased complete by the Spanish authorities from France, and they were delivered and stored at the warehouse in Manila. All lighthouse constructions though, were halted with the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution and then the Spanish–American War. When the Americans took
Piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War, around 2000. Fishing communities responded by forming armed groups to deter the invaders by hijacking commercial vessels. But this grew into a lucrative trade, with large ransom payments, and financial gain (piracy) was clearly the main motive. International organisations began to express concern over the new piracy due to its high cost to global trade and the incentive to profiteer by insurance companies and others. The Somali government has been active in