More than 930,000 seafarers have signed a petition calling for immediate¹ global action to bring an end to piracy².

超过93万名船员联名签署请愿书，要求全球政府立即行动结束海盗行为。

multinational³ anti-piracy task force which operates off the Somali coast" src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/100924/4_100924065457_1.jpg" width="304" height="171" />
US marines are part of a multinational anti-piracy task force which operates off the Somali coast

Twelve boxes containing the petition were handed to the UN International Maritime⁴ Organisation⁵ at its London headquarters.

Shipping⁶ is under increasing threat around the world, with attacks off the coast of West Africa and in the Far East.

Somali pirates alone are holding 354 sailors.

The petition was organised by a coalition⁷ of groups including unions, ship operators and welfare organisations and presented on World Maritime Day.

The BBC's Martin Plaut says the size of the petition reflects the real anger of sailors around the world, who feel that their plight⁸（困境，境况） is ignored by the international community.

Signatories want governments to take immediate steps to secure the release of kidnapped seafarers（船员，航海家） . They are also calling for "significant resources and concerted efforts to find real solutions to the growing piracy problem".

An international task force was set up in January 2009 to combat piracy in the Gulf⁹ of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia, covering an area of approximately 1.1 million sq miles.

It's the huge distances which are the problem, according to James Grady. He was an officer onboard the tanker¹⁰ Sirius Star when it was hijacked¹² off the coast of Kenya in November 2008.

"People who don't work at sea just can't imagine the distances that are involved," he told the BBC. "It's millions of sq miles of ocean to cover and you would need hundreds of thousands of warships¹³ to be truly effective."

David Cockroft, general secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation¹⁴ (ITF), which represents many sailors, hopes the petition will help to draw attention to the dangers which seafarers face.

But he also concedes（承认，退让） that the long-term solution has to be political: "Ultimately we also need to solve the political problems of Somalia to ensure there is no impunity¹⁵（不受惩罚） and that people cannot simply hijack¹¹ ships then when they are arrested be released and free to hijack another ship again in two or three weeks' time."