Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum
The Independent Online (South Africa) reports on the piracy problem off African shores:

Heavily armed pirates targeting cargo ships along the African coast - many of which have passed through Durban - are raking in billions of dollars in trade on the international black market.

In the first six months of this year, 28 cargo ships were attacked by gangs of sea pirates operating around Africa.

Last year, 97 ships were attacked on Africa's coastline - more than half of the vessels attacked throughout the world.

Most of these ships were attacked after either berthing in Durban or Richards Bay to deliver or collect cargo, such as oil, iron, steel and coal, worth millions of dollars.

...

Using state-of-the-art boats, helicopters and weapons, pirates storm ships at night and hold the crews hostage for ransom before stripping the vessels of their cargo and fleeing, sometimes leaving their victims dead.

By the numbers, it actually looks like the trend is slowing. Maybe it's those new African "democracies" coming of age, now that they have escaped colonialism. Oops, IOL also reports that Germans make Somali pirates walk the plank.

A German naval vessel patrolling the coast of Somalia as part of the war on terrorism helped rescue the Filipino crew of a ship captured by pirates, said media reports on Thursday.

Actually, they just ensured a peaceable end to the usual extortion negotiation, but it's the thought that counts.