When people think of pirates they immediately get an image of Jack Sparrow in th - Sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow - in their head, as well as a bottle of rum, cannons and swords.
Despite the fact this does make pirates seem a whole lot cooler, it's not what they are. It's just a case of people hijacking a much bigger boat than theirs; no eye patches.
This clip shows private security on board a cargo ship shooting at Somali pirates as they try to come aboard...
Credit: Humans At Sea
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Earlier in the week two Somali Pirates were shot dead as they tried to board another ship, The Maritime Executive reports. They were attempting to hijack an unidentified ship near the Gulf of Aden, as an unnamed naval force shot them down.
"We understand Somali pirates hijacked a commercial Indian ship (and it is heading) towards Somalia shores," Abdirizak Mohamed Dirir, a former director of the anti-piracy agency in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, told Reuters.
Events involving Somali pirates have increased in recent months, with Oceans Beyond Piracy claiming that the number of reported failed attacks and suspicious incidents rose in 2016. Armed security teams reportedly managed to stop 11 attacks in 2016.
"This confirms that the pirates still have the ability to go to sea and take vessels, and the international shipping industry need to take additional precautions," Oceans Beyond Piracy's John Steed, told Reuters.
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Oceans Beyond Piracy also say that since 2000, somewhere in the region of 5,000 sailors and ship workers have been taken hostage by Somali pirates.
The peak of the piracy activities by Somalians came in 2010, when at one time 1,000 people were rumoured to be held hostage.
Featured Image Credit: Humans At Sea
