A bit light-hearted there, but there is really nothing funny about what is happening these days off the African coast. Modern day pirates are taking over ships, attacking crews and holding them hostage, and making off with loot by the millions.
One of the questions usually asked relates to wondering how a small speedboat can overcome a large fishing trawler or a huge cargo ship. Here is the general attack scenario.
The little speedboat moves at high speed and is loaded up with a small crew of 'pirates', often from areas around either Somalia or Nigeria. It approaches the larger ship suddenly and then the pirates cast a rope ladder onto the larger ship. They climb the ladder and make their way through the ship to the crew, taking them hostage and sometimes killing them.
The pirates are armed with sophisticated weaponry that includes high-powered automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and even hand grenades. Even at times when the larger ship sees the pirates coming, they cannot overcome them because of this advantage in weaponry.
