While many think that piracy was part of Captain Jack Sparrow's reign on the high seas, there are most definitely still pirates in existence that will do whatever they can to board and commandeer a vulnerable craft.But it seems one company has found a solution.According to Gizmodo, a new water-based security system by MTI and Yokoi will use a water shield and hoses to deter and hopefully sink pirates before they can board a ship.

All eleven pirates that were apprehended by EU Naval Force warship FS Nivose in May 2009 and transferred to Kenyan authorities in May 2009 were found guilty on 19 April 2012.  By ruling of the Magistrate the eleven pirates now face 20 years imprisonment.

One hundred and two incidents of piracy and armed robbery have been reported for the first quarter of 2012, with dangerously increasing numbers in West African waters, according to figures released today in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) global piracy report. In total, 11 vessels were reported hijacked worldwide, with 212 crew members taken hostage and four crew killed.

Piracy in the Indian Ocean is now considered the biggest threat to marine transportation in the East African sea routes, according to regional military officials, who warned that the problem has been reported to spread southwards. To underline the seriousness of the problem, the heads and representatives of navy units from 89 countries gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, last week to discuss options to eliminate the scourge of piracy.

The international shipping industry and the governments that are ostensibly supposed to protect it have begun to radically rethink their long-held aversion to private armed protection at sea. The shift illustrates the inability and/or unwillingness of states to provide security, and presages potential ethical and legal controversy as the lines between commerce and state authority become increasingly blurred.

Norfolk (RBC) The trial of a Somali man U.S. authorities consider the highest-ranking pirate they have ever captured will begin this week in Virginia under a cloud of uncertainty about what the definition of piracy is.Mohammad Saaili Shibin is charged with piracy and a host of other charges for his role in the 2011 hijacking of an American yacht off the coast of Africa in which all four passengers on board were shot and killed.

So, you hear about another merchant ship being hijacked by pirates, and you shrug and think there is no reason for you to worry since you are far removed geographically? Here’s the clincher: one single act of hijack mid-sea sets off a domino effect, which touches upon even your day-to-day life.

Somali pirates have acquired sophisticated weaponry, including mines and shoulder-held missile launchers from Libya, and are likely to use them in bolder attacks on shipping, a senior maritime security analyst said on Thursday."We found that Libyan weapons are being sold in what is the world's biggest black market for illegal gun smugglers, and Somali pirates are among those buying from sellers in Sierra Leone, Liberia and other countries," said Judith van der Merwe, of the Algiers-based African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism.