Actual piracy is on the rise. That is to say, more people are boarding more ships with more guns and shooting more people and taking more cargo, all the while uttering more horrible cries of "ARRRRR."
Strangely, the shipping industry's response isn't to keelhaul passengers who don't tip well on ocean cruises, or to hull random pleasure boats, or to demand special bow-mounted lasers that vaporize any ship that gets within a hundred miles.
Around the world, more than 20 sailors are known to have been murdered by pirates last year.
Seventy are missing, presumed dead.
Other trends are also emerging: ships are now less likely to be hijacked for their cargo; attackers, possibly from militant groups, are seizing ships and ransoming their crew.
