Yargh, ye be noticin’ pirates be returnin’ to the high stormy seas, me matey?

By U-Wire

Call me crazy, but has anyone else noticed just how prevalent pirates have become?

Once a pest of the trading ships of days past, it seems that the merciless, unruly terrorists of the sea are making a comeback in a big way.

But they’re not quite the pirates we’re used to seeing. There’s hardly any swashbuckling, very little rum and minor parrot-related japery.

Instead, these buccaneers are equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, hundreds of men and 100 speedboats.

And unlike the pirates of the days of old, they’re not out for rare spices and plunderous booties of gold Spanish coins – they’re out for oil cargo and millions of dollars of ransom.

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And it seems to be working.

Just in the last month, there have been countless stories about Somali pirates capturing vessels.

Currently, at press time, a vessel carrying $100 million in oil cargo was being held off the coast for a demand of $10 million in ransom money.

While the Saudi government dismisses the notion of dealing with pirates, ABC reports that the insurance firm and owner of the ship is the final decider. It would seem the Central Regional Coast Guard, as it calls itself, is a mechanical operation that seizes bounty, holds ships to ransom and gets away with it.

According to English newspaper The Guardian, the group has attacked 29 other ships, pocketing a total of $10 million so far this year.

So while it appears they have a fluid operation of extortion and surprise attacks – they can be a little overambitious at times.

Like when they recently tried to take a Royal Navy ship hostage after opening fire on it.

Think of the face-off … the might of a Royal Navy warship and a band of business-like plunderers.

Not quite a challenge, is it?

But despite their lapses in judgment, the pirates have become a major problem for the world.

CNN reports that a Norwegian shipping company has now ordered its couriers to avoid the Horn of Africa to lose the terrorist threat.

It has also criticized governments for failing to deal with the problem.

“The criminal activities are flourishing because the risks are low and the rewards are extremely high,” Noel Choong, International Maritime Bureau, told CBS News. Many of us celebrate “International Talk Like a Pirate Day,” trading yargh’s and “ye be’s” like they’re going out of style.

But really, is that appropriate anymore? These modern-day pirates aren’t interested in their campy predecessors nor are they interested in Johnny Depp’s drunken portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow. And I bet you they don’t have any of those awful “pirate lords” as stated in the third film.

The only logical conclusion to this situation is to engage in an all-out slugfest with the pirates.

Fire up ye cannons and blast the filthy plunderers into the waters.

But then again I feel like the world is better with pirates. Finally, the word has regained its meaning.

That, and the world just seems a little more ridiculous knowing that in the modern day, pirates are still terrorizing nations, causing a ruckus.

Yargh.