Overseas shipping in the Indian Ocean is a difficult and often hazardous profession. Swirling currents, tropical storms and modern day pirates infest the waters that stretch from the eastern coast of Africa to the western shores of Indonesia and Australia. One of the most unstable regions in the world, the Indian Ocean is avoided by sane ship captains and traversed by those who don't care about or don't fear anything on earth.

India and Pakistan are on the verge of war with each other. Iraq and Afghanistan are occupied by U.S. troops that are still under fire. Somalia has been the sight of horrific ethnic cleansing and Ethiopia is ravaged by famine. All of them are located on the Indian Ocean. Move west and you come to the countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam just on the other side of the peninsula. The lands surrounding the Indian Ocean have been some of the most ravaged and devastated on earth in the last half century yet overseas shipping on the Indian Ocean continues.

South Africa and Australia, which are at the southern end of the Indian Ocean, are two of the biggest exporters in that part of the world. Overseas shipping from South Africa brings diamonds to the world and Australia provides agricultural products and technology to the countries of Africa and Asia. It is also a major transfer point for overseas shipping companies going to and from Southeast Asia.

Due to the geographical layout of the Indian Ocean and the waterways that lead into it, most overseas shipping companies rarely have to travel over open water and put their vessels at risk from the elemental or man-made dangers that exist there. In the northeastern reaches of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, which is connected to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal, provides access to the Indian Ocean and enables overseas shipping companies to reach the shores of India and Saudi Arabia without going all the way around the Cape of Good Hope. In the northwest, the South China Sea allows overseas shipping companies from China and Japan to supply the rest of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

The British navy, because of Great Britain's interests in Australia and New Zealand, maintains a heavy presence in the Indian Ocean. This keeps overseas shipping companies fairly safe but the territory that needs to covered leaves a lot of places where illegal activity thrives. Modern day pirates are not like the cutlass carrying swashbucklers you see in the movies. They carry automatic weapons and fire hand-held rockets that sink ships on impact. They also sometimes fly the flags of governments that encourage their activities. The Indian Ocean is the Caribbean of the 21st Century, just a lot larger.

Overseas shipping of products manufactured in India and other nations around the Indian Ocean are sold in the United States and throughout Europe and bring a hefty profit to both Indian and American businesses. Outsourcing to India has become a common practice for Western businesses and the practice is bringing organization and stability to the region slowly. If you choose to do business there here's some advice, When you go to visit, fly, don't go by boat.