MISC tanker on way to pirates' port of Eyl: "Last week, Somali gunmen seized a record four ships in 48 hours, and are now holding about 130 crew hostage on at least nine vessels from Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Nigeria and Iran.”

That’s from an older article. But I wanted to know more about modern pirates and did some digging.

Turns out the Somali port of Eyl is the pirate home base and it is serious business. It’s amazing really. They’ve built their own economy.

The French sent in their commandos once to free sailors from the pirates.

Life in Somalia's pirate town: “Whenever word comes out that pirates have taken yet another ship in the Somali region of Puntland, extraordinary things start to happen.

Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have been surging

There is a great rush to the port of Eyl, where most of the hijacked vessels are kept by the well-armed pirate gangs.

People put on ties and smart clothes. They arrive in land cruisers with their laptops, one saying he is the pirates' accountant, another that he is their chief negotiator.

With yet more foreign vessels seized off the coast of Somalia this week, it could be said that hijackings in the region have become epidemic.

Insurance premiums for ships sailing through the busy Gulf of Aden have increased tenfold over the past year because of the pirates, most of whom come from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

In Eyl, there is a lot of money to be made, and everybody is anxious for a cut.

Entire industry

The going rate for ransom payments is between $300,000 and $1.5m (£168,000-£838,000).

A recent visitor to the town explained how, even though the number of pirates who actually take part in a hijacking is relatively small, the whole modern industry of piracy involves many more people.

"The number of people who make the first attack is small, normally from seven to 10," he said.

"They go out in powerful speedboats armed with heavy weapons. But once they seize the ship, about 50 pirates stay on board the vessel.