Security contractors have made life “a lot harder” for pirates since the 2009 hijacking:
Instead of relying solely on water cannons and evasive maneuvers, companies have taken to hiring private armed escorts of former Marines and Navy SEALs. … Despite worries that having gun-toting contractors onboard may cause confrontations to escalate, they seem to have worked as a deterrent. Since 2011, the number of pirate attacks around Somalia has plummeted, from 237 that year to just 10 so far this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau. And the number of vessels held by pirates has dropped from 47 in 2010 to only 1 today. …
Part of this has to do with better international coordination between the navies of NATO, Russia, China, and the EU, which have worked to eradicate the large motherships that provide pirate skiffs with fuel and supplies. It also has to do with more stringent enforcement of anti-piracy laws. Somali pirates have been prosecuted from Tanzania to the United States, and more than 1,100 have been jailed. But there’s no denying that private security has been a big help.
The Dish 