I think it must be REALLY frustrating for the military forces that are out there patrolling the waters.
Firstly, non commercial trips by westerners, as far as i’m aware, aren’t entirely necessary and the dangers are well known. So it must irritate them when people are captured who shouldn’t have been there anyway. Sort of like going on a sightseeing holiday in a war zone.
Commercial voyages are driven by the necessity to make money. True, you can’t just stop sending cargo ships, otherwise your company disappears pretty quickly. But then it’s up the crew whether they want to undertake the voyage, their risk to an extent. And they choose to make the trip regadless of the danger.
And above all else, there’s loads of annoying little somalian pirates running (sailing) about kidnapping and killing your fellow countrymen (regardless of how foolish they have been) and you are pretty powerless do anything about it. Surely as a highly trained war machine, all you really want to do is shoot the little buggers as soon as they are within range?
I’d love to load up a yacht with enough weapons and ammunition to start a small war and then cruise off the coast of somalia posing as a tourist, picking off the pirates as they got close. Excellent fun!
Plus, you’d porbably get a 15 minute slot on The One Show when you got back, and the irish woman on that is super hot.