Nonetheless, more than 15 vessels and at least 250 crew members are currently held captive. According to the International Maritime Bureau, the waters off Somalia witnessed 61 attacks during the first quarter of this year.

Comparing this number to just six incidents in the same period last year means that piracy in the region is booming.

The Gulf of Aden remains one of the most dangerous places in the modern maritime world. According to Kenya's foreign minister, Somali pirates have collected more than $150 million in ransoms over the last year. Somalia is a political and economic mess – and piracy offers the chance for a profitable business.

Bringing in patrol ships

Pirates had a constant presence in the news in September 2008 when they seized the Ukrainian freighter Faina. The ship with a crew of 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and one Latvian was carrying 33 battle tanks and ammunition.

The Russian captain died of heart failure during the five months of captivity so only 20 men went back home when the three million dollar ransom was paid.

The incident has brought international navy forces, including Russian cruisers, to the patrol the area.

Last week, the crew of the Admiral Panteleyev destroyer detained 29 suspected pirates, allegedly involved in a failed hijack attempt. Weaponry and navigation equipment was found aboard their boat, but experts say it will be hard to prove their involvement.

“Of course we’re sure they’re pirates. Though their claim that they are hostages is hardly believable, piracy is almost impossible to prove,” said Mikhail Voitenko, the editor-in-chief of the Internet edition of "Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht.”

Recently a series of pirate attacks in the area have been repelled. On Friday an Antiguan flagged ship with a Russian crew managed to use wooden logs to see the pirates off, and at the beginning of the week an Italian cruise ship opened fire to repel a hijack attempt.

However, the idea of carrying weapons onboard every merchant ship has few supporters.

“Our belief is that arming merchant sailors may result in the acquisition of even more lethal weapons and tactics by the pirates, and a race that merchant sailors cannot win,” John Clancey, chairman of shipping giant Maersk says.