I find this interesting. I read an article today about a couple who has been kidnapped and their yacht has been hijacked. According to a google search for "modern day pirates" it seems to happen fairly often. The link to the article I read is here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/8329364.stm
And I found a "Live Piracy Map" that shows the locations of pirate attacks by year, along with a bunch of other interesting data here...
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=visualization&controller=visualization.googlemap&Itemid=219
Looks pretty safe on this side of the globe if you stay north of the equator. South of the equator, especially on the other side of the globe looks pretty scary though.
We 'own' the worlds most powerful Navy with 24/7 surveillance and they ought to be given 'Cart-Blanche' to pursue and sink, not capture, these modern day pirates.
If I sailed these waters I'd pack one of these 50 cal...
(http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh299/1930fordroadster/barrett-m98b-025.jpg)
...so I could reach out and touch somebody. First squeeze across the bow, the next squeeze through the bow, and the third through the helmsmen.
Then have a side by side Ithaca for close in fighting and a whole bunch of shells.
skip.
I read where we are finally deploying drones off the Horn of Africa, I suspect one of those Reapers might pack a little more punch than a sniper rifle (although .50 cal's kick serious ass).