great gift ideas. you will have the time of your life so why not do it. i'm bill o'reilly. we hope to see you the next time. the spin stops here because we are definitely looking out for you. >> welcome to fox news reporting. "pirates of the 21st century." i'm martha mccallum. pirates have been terrorizing travelers on the high seas since the earliest days of the ocean's trade routes. in fact, the vin nieces were the

earliest ones. they began in the med takennian about 2,000bc. they have been portrayed in books and films at buccaneers wearing a patch over one eye. but today's pirates in the gulf of aden aren't interested in cargo or brandishing swords, instead they carry ak-47's and rocket propelled grenades. and yachts, sailboats in search of human prey, hostages and the ran comes they bringing, often in the millions of dollars, that's what the bandits are after. it's a dirty and dangerous business. they are right now holding 14 ships and at least 200 hostages. fox news reporting traveled nearly 10,000 miles around the globe to find out who the modern day pirates are and how they turn piracy into a multimillion-dollar well-organized business.

>> the british couple, paul and rachel chandler, it was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, sailing their yacht in the indian ocean. but on october 23rd the voyage turned into a nightmare. >> somali pirates boarded their yacht as night and the about couple is now 2 of 200 hostages being held for ransom in somalia. but they would. the demand was for a staggering $7 million. with negotiations for their release dragging on, their cap fors report the couple is ill and refuse to go eat or drink. this year alone pirates have attacked more than 325 ships and taken 639 hostages. the vessels range from this

greek oil tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil, taken on november 30th, to the chandler's 38-foot long yacht. many involved in security in the region copy their identities concealed, like this man, a consultant who provides on-the-ground support in chris around -- countries around the world. >> this is a society for generations have raided each other's camels, sheep, cattle. to raid a passing ship is no different. >> last year we had a huge spike and we went from three ships that had been taken hostage to twelve ships. it was very obvious we had to do something. >> the response was task force 151, an international coalition of navies patrolling the arabian sea. amy kellog spoke with a former

commander of the task force. >> all of our nation's leaders have concerns over how do we protect our people, how do we protect commerce? that flow is the economic engine of the world. >> the task force is comprised of up to 25 warships from 25 countries. >> when there's a warship there, you don't have a hijack. when we aren't there, that's when they make their move. the pirates now travel far more widely looking for prey. despite the efforts of task force 151, merchant marijuanaers are forced to do much on their own. >> the merchant vessels themselves can do a huge amount to avoid an attack. >> look at how you plan your passage, try to avoid high piracy areas.

the advice is to steer and stay closer to coalition forces. >> on land the pirate industry is flourishing. in most of somalia, priorscy is the only profitable business. so profitable that pirate stock exchanges have been set up, allowing somalis to invest money and weapons to reap a share of the ransom. one investor, the group al-shabab, is a radical organization with ties to al-qaeda. al-shabab trains it's fighters to rage war against the enemies of islam. >> there are numerous camps on the ground. the camps are being used to train fighters to fight in somalia. is it possible they could be used for something else in the future? absolutely. >> it appears the future is now.

a newly released canadian intelligence document reports al-shabab has been arming and training pirates in exchange for a share of their spoil. >> the big danger is they can very easily be utilized by foreign interests that are not pirates. >> this is like other organized crime. whether people who have drugs smuggling empires or human smuggling empires, trafficking, there's evil here, and it needs to stop. >> greg palkot tracks down a former pirate in little mogadishu as he finds who is getting paid and where the money is funding and the islamist group al-shabab. that's next when we return.

. >> welcome back. we now take a look at who the somali pirates are. greg pal follows the pirate money trail into nairobi's little mogadishu. >> ready, fire! >> this was hollywood's version of pirates. big ships, cannons blazing, dashing men brandishing swords. it's a far cry from today's pirates of the 21st century. they are wreaking havoc on the world's shipping describe. >> scary. all we had was knives and they had ak-47's.

>> these pirates stalk ships thousands of times their size, armed with rifles and ladders. they hunt in the waters of the gulf of aden. >> in minutes they are in control of a ship. >> they hook ladders with welded grappling hooks on to the railing. they scamper up these aluminum ladders, and within minutes they run up to the bridge, they attack the watch standers on the bridge, and then they are in control of a ship. >> the pirates are hunting human hostages to hold for ransom. it's become a becoming better booming business. in august the italian tugboat buck near and it's 16-man crew were released after a ransom of $4 million us was paid. and last april pirates took an american ship, the maersk alabama, carrying relief

supplies to after trick kau. >> captain phillips was their only ticket. they hurt him and it would be immediate death. >> the 21-man crew were freed only after the navy us seals shot three pirates dead. only pirate to survive is facing trial in manhattan. in an unprecedented effort, navies around the world have nobody i will lied to fight piracy. but who are the enemy somali pirates? we found some hanging around the area of nairobi, kenya, dubbed little mogadishu. >> they go to a guy called milksucker. he says he's a pirate. he got that nickname because he started young. let's see how he grew up. the five-floor walk-up to him. >> milksucker didn't want to reveal his identity and spoke to me through a translator. >> at that time i was happy. >> but you are threatening

people's lives, you are disrupting business, you are disrupting the ship. >> we can show the world that if somali has no central government it will take forever. >> he manned the lead boat bringing pirates to the big boats they commandeer. >> i was a young man and i was given that path. >> you get up-close to one of these ships to realize what the pirates are up against. you get a sense of the scale of these ships, and that's exactly what the pirates have to do, they have to scale these ships. but they do it again and again and again. >> this is the chemical tanker mvstol. it s which he said he helped hijack. it was held near their home base for more than five months. a $2.2 million ransom was paid and milksucker said his share was around $35,000. >> the government is nothing.

we can get the money, and we can do anyway. >> since the early '90's somalia has been in a civil war. he said he fought in the war. his skill in handling an ak-47 rifle helped him get the job. >> piracy ultimately begins on land and ends on land. you are going to have this window of opportunity for people to behave lawlessly. where there's no government, known to restrain the pirates, that's one factor in the growth. the other, of course, is the incentive for a war to be had and the two came together nicely. >> added to that, the waters off the coast of somalia have been ravished by years of foreign fishing and toxic dumping, robbing many fishermen of their livelihood. >> there's no fishing.

>> completing the perfect storm of piracy, the somalis themselves. >> the most important element of the current situation is the overlay of political islam on to clans. you have religious differences that are coloring the clan conflict, and then a low back into the religious conflict. >> milksucker is a member of the powerful clan. mike mafia families, the chance of somali are tight units. this is a major faction for chance. >> they trust each other, and it works. so they are very, very adept at a pirate network because they don't need a top-down organization. >> in kenya's little mogadishu the issue of piracy is a driving

force in the economy. cash is forked over for everything from cars to real estate. side businesses have developed. meetos hundred. he didn't want his identity revealed either. he ran a pirate catering business, furnishing food and water. they paid in cash. >> how much did they need, a lot? >> sometimes they take 15 days of supplies. >> there are narcotic leaves that keep them up for days and makes them dangerously unstable. the effects are similar to cocaine. osmund told me he lives in a town that is a pirate center that we caught a glimpse of traveling with a french navy. his gripe with the pirates, they didn't pay well. >> no good life. >> the piracy trickle-down effects might not be all what it's cracked up to be. milksucker was in one of several

piracy hide outs along the coast. it shows a scruffy see side plays. not a lot different than others with some signs of piracy taste, like a local shop stocked with campbell soup. we visit the the place and found it missing pirate bling. >> for having had so much exposure to piracy, that town was so poor. there was so lack of infrastructure that it was appalling the idea that the pirate money is somehow flowing literally into these communities and enriching everybody is just not true. >> but the millions made in hostage taking does flow to the brains behind the operation, the investors, the planners. they can get as much as a third or even half of the proceeds. >> what to the pirates do with all the ransom money? some people say they bring it

here, the little mogadishu. they invest in new buildings like this. there's a building boom happening here. >> this is a new building. >> it came all of a sudden from nowhere. >> he shows us all around the neighborhood. place is booming. new shopping centers, soaring prices. the suspicion is the pirate money is being laundered there. with lacks kenyan laws helping out. >> it is pirate money. >> because money is the money, illegal money. it is increasing price of property. >> you think some of that might be from pirate return? >> i don't think, i am sure. >> others disagree. money could also be coming into kenya from legal sources, and even if the cash is pirate, a

muslim based money transfer system can be used, which moves money around without a trace. this hot money is also reportedly tied to funding the radical islamist al-shabab. a milltist islamist group link today al-qaeda. they have stepped up attacks on the u.n. and the fragile somali government. one person from alabama and minnesota may be involved. last october they began the first known american suicide bomber and at least four others have died trying to embrace radical islam. >> he was radical lied in minnesota and is probably the first u.s. citizen to carry out a terrorist suicide bombing. >> these young men from the us, australia and europe are meeting people from other terrorist organizations that might have a more global agenda. >> al-shabab has a mixed history

with the pirates. the tanker is 2007, there were reports that al-shabab tried to get the pirates to give it up, beliefs his seizure was a violation of islamic law. but when pirates seized the u.s.-owned maersk alabama, he reportedly cheered the move as a victory against the u.s. now there are reports the al-shabab are taking their cut of pirate money, as well. >> about 20% is spent to pay off government officials to look the other way. and this includes the islamist extremists of al-shabab. >> as for milksucker, politics and islam will little to do with his decision to become a pirate. it was excitement and cash. >> i won't go back unless i get something. >> coming up next, amy kellog takes us deep inside the terrifying two-month hijack of a danish ship. you will hear from the ship's

owner, captain, and the man who was hired by the pirates to negotiate on their behalf.

. >> amy kellogg takes inside the two-month long hijack ordeal of a danish ship. >> the nightmare began november november 7, 2008. you are listening to the stress calls from the danish ship. she was under attack by somali pirates carries rocket propelled grenade launchers. the future was carrying 67,000 tons of cargo -- 6,000 tons of cargo. the voice of the russian captain as he tried to create waves to shake off the pirates. with more than 20 years at sea, it was his maiden voyage as captain. back in denmark, the owner also received an emergency message in

code from captain noshken. >> we have a tracking device on the trip. we can on the television screen follow the movement of the ship. movement of the ship became evasive. that appeared the case and we knew indeed he was under attack. finally the ship stopped and we knew the game was over. >> your heart must have sank. >> it did. very frustrating, very shocking experience. >> the pirates of the 21st century aren't after car going, they are interested of the people onboard pour the ransom. >> i like pirates elsewhere in the world that steal for the cargo. the somalis don't have a mechanism for off-loading or marketing anything they have stolen. >> it only took 16 minutes to seize control of the 7,000 tonner. captain noshken and the unarmed 13-member crew from russia, georgia and estonia were held at gunpoint. >> the first thing we felt was fear and shock. we made it clear to the pirates you better not touch them.

if there was any physical contact from the pirates we would refuse to work on it. we told them if it didn't work, the ship would die and they wouldn't get any money. >> and thus began over two months of a terrifying and frustrating ordeal. for the first time fox news reporting reveals the inner workings of the cec's future hostaging negotiations with the pirates. at the center a mysterious and key player emerged named ali ali. we confirmed that this is the man who negotiated on behalf of the plan. one of the somalia competing faxes. >> of course not. we didn't trust him at all. until the last moment we had the doubt that that person was a negotiateator hired by the pirates or was he simply one of the pirates, but an educated one?

>> fox news reporting set out to track down the elusive ali. starting in london, the 3,000-mile journey took us to the united arab emirites. >> this is fox news. i'm just calling to find out if you had any success with mr. ali ali? >> suddenly there was a visa issued. this was hardly surprising. somali for decades had no functioning government. ali was on the move and his numbers kept changing. he end up in dijibouti, the shipping horn of after extra. that's where we decided to meet him finally. keeping a low free file, we took in a small camcorder for the interview and hoped for the best. >> we came here in a nice air-conditioned car make our way toward the hotel.

and getting ready to give ali a shot. >> i will come. >> thank you. >> when we come back, amy kellog finally meets up with the shadowing ali ali, and learn how the pirates aboard the ce cec future wrapping he willed a small fortune in exchange for the ship. we will show you exclusive footage of the actual money drop of more than $1 million.

>> from america's news headquarters. chaos in northwest pakistan today. local police say 75 people are dead, dozens more injured. a homicide bomber drove his crowd on to a crowded field during a volleyball tournament and the blast caused several buildings nearby to collapse. residents suspect the taliban behind the explosion. many fear retaliation for insure cents in the region. >> and former hostage peter moore is back home. brand new pictures showing his arrival in see yet this southern england. moore was freed in baghdad this past wednesday. he worked as a computer programmer for a private military company in iraq when he was kidnapped by insurgents more

than two and a half years ago. i'm greg. now back to "pirates of the 21st century." for all the latest headlines, log on to foxnews.com. >> welcome back to fox news report "pirates of the 21st century." i'm martha mccallum. as days passed tensions and condition aboard the ce cec future grew dire. we begin with amy kellog and the mysterious ali ali. >> and there he was, standing in a hotel lobby ready to talk about the dirty business of negotiating cash for the lives of hostages held by pirates. >> how did you get involved being a neglectator. >> i got involved in activity with a couple that has been kidnapped in 2008. i was there two months. and those two months i heard a

lot about piracy. >> ali claims he spent years living in the united states, including maryland and new york. in manhattan he claimed he once worked as a driver for a legendary bandleader. fox news can't confirm this but we can confirm that in memphis, tennessee he was convicted for assault with a knife in 1995. he claims a somali man he had taken in attacked him with a machete. the courts determined otherwise. he was sentenced to probation and anger management, and according to shelby county, he did not comply with court orders. the case was, however, ultimately dismissed, though not until 2001. ali told me he wanted to become an expert on pirates but the pirates wouldn't let him hang with them unless he worked on him. his command of english made him valuable in the excruciating negotiations with the crew. >> we are talking about holding 13 colleagues of yours at

gunpoint. >> the communication line between the ship and the owner of the company. >> tell bus the pirates themselves. >> pirates on the ship, they were not a stable group. >> they could explode. they could start shooting. they would see vultures and start shooting. >> it seems their narcotic of choice is cott or mera. after they chew the leaves they stay up for hours in a cocaine-like scene. he can remember this nine his cabin. >> maybe let's local custom but they don't wear underwear. they know all about that. but when the pirates came to the computer monitor and on our screen safer was an aquarium

with fish swimming, they look at the monitor and looked behind it and couldn't understand how the fish could turn around in a thin tank. they didn't understand it was a computer image. >> the graphics were really good. and they looked like real fish. >> it's my job to stand up for them because that's what the big boss told me to do, to negotiate for him. this is the rules. if you want to get the money, you have to keep yourself away from the people. >> we had been going on for 60 days trying to resolve this issue, and we were moving. >> as the future and its crew drifted off the coast of ale with filthy conditions onboard and fuel and food storage running low, ransom numbers of $4 million and $5 million were flying around. as tempers flared, they even turned on ali at one point.

>> i said 700,000 and they say no more. i say we have to move. >> how much did they want at that point? >> they were asking $4 million or $5 million. and $4 million is way, way above anything that had been paid at the time so there was no way we were going to come anywhere close to that number. we wanted to come way below $2 million. >> what made the pirates agree to take $2 million. >> i think they knew they would end up below $2 million. they wanted to be sure they squeezed the last dollar out of you. and that's what you need to know when you are dealing with them. again, because time is -- time doesn't matter to them. >> now came the really tricky part, the money drop. >> we made a contract with a company that does air drops. we went to our own bank in copenhagen. we told them and told them we need a lot of dollar bills. >> they also insist on proof of life and demanded the crew be

displayed on deck. >> they took pictures. i wasn't a pirate, but i looked like a pirate so they took pictures when they made the drop. >> this is how it happened. >> we will just cover and wait for the crew to be with you on the deck and take a final photograph. >> crammed in the capsule was the only currency the pirates will accept, brand new u.s. bills, more than $1 million worth of them. >> 100-dollar bills? >> one hundred dollar bills. >> and we had also, in order to try to facilitate the distribution of the funds," we provided a note counter. one of the electric deals the

banks have. and they were being paid according to a formula. >> a formula that rifles anything on wall street. >> the suppliers get paid. >> for some reason they couldn't agree so it took them 13 hours to split the loot. and at some point they all crammed into the captain's cabin and they had a major argument about distributing and splitting up the ransom to the extent they were started fighting and they were actually knifing each other and started shooting at each other and we had blood all over the ship as a result of that. >> according to ali, back on shore the fighting continued amongst the clan. >> close up right there, we see about six or seven technicals. a pickup truck or a jeep or whatever cut off the top and they had a big machine gun.

the next thing was shots being fired. >> after our interview, ali claims he's done with pirates. and after two and a half months of heli, captain noshken and his crew have no illusions about somali pirates. >> hollywood shows it at beauty, but there is nothing good about it. they are world people, destitute. they eat, chew drugs, do narcotics. they don't have any concept of morale values. >> when we come back, i sit down with the oner of the first american ship that was seized by pirates in the gulf of aden. hear how he freed his 28-man crew. show and tell...

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>> you may have heard of the maersk alabama, but actually the first american ship that was ever hijacked in the gulf of aden from the mv biscaglia back in november of 2008. owner of that ship, james christodoulou, takes us into the grueling talks that he engaged in to set his crew free. >> they were my men. they were flying my company's flag. and they entrusted me with their safety, and i couldn't let them down. >> there are often lasting scars

former chant mariners and sail lores to fall hostage on the high seas but the deal can also have a profound effect on the lives of their colleagues, friends and loved ones around the world. >> i'm extremely proud of my husband, richard, for his unselfish act of bravery. >> james christodoulou knows this firsthand. i spoke with him about the nightmare he lived through when hit tanker, themer can't vessel biscaglia, was taken by pirates in november, 2008 off the coast of africa. >> tell me about the biscaglia. >> it was in the gulf of aden carrying a load of palm oil from indonesia to spain. >> this corridor between the horn of africa and the saudi peninsula is now ground zero with some 200 people being held hostage. pirates in the region have attacked everything from tankers to cruise ships to private yachts. on the biscaglia the 28

crewmembers, 26 from india and two from bangly dish took special precautions when will sailing. >> we planned when to transit the area, what time of day, at what speed. of course, high-speed and taking evasive maneuvers. >> what kind of security measures at that time did you have on the trip. >> we had bashed wire and netting across our decks and on our railing to deter pirates. we had security guards onboard, former sas and other military guys onboard to provide extraville generals to help the crew with evation and defensive responses in the event of an attack. >> the attack on ships, they got to the point from the merchants decided they wanted to start doing something about it. >> they had exmilitary teams

onboard, they were unarmed. >> did you wish that they had guns? >> no. i'm still on the fence about having lethally armed security guards onboard the ships also. >> because the biggest problem with merchantshipping is the insurance and the crew union. so putting them onboard and get being arms between different continents and contris. >> despite the security, six somali pirates attacked. >> they had two skips, speed boats, that came at us from opposite ends. we were all getting ready for defensive operation. they still kept coming. they fired their rpg at our ship, they shot ak-47's at our ship and they kept coming. >> how did they get on, a ladder? >> a ladder and grappling hook. they pulled up beside the ship as we were doing our maneuvers and they climbed onboard the ship and attack. >> what did the security guards do at that point. >> once they saw that the pirates were onboard with the

machine guns, there was really nothing else that they could do. >> the pirates were going through the ships, searching the cabins looking for the security guards. they were going to be hunted down and killed. >> to their credit, they actually abandoned ship or evacuated the ship. and i think that was the right thing to do. there was nothing they could do anymore for that hostage situation, and i think their presence onboard the ship would have only made matters worse. >> so take me through the phone call, however it was, that you not this news. >> very early friday morning, the day of a thanksgiving, just after midnight i received call from one of my technical superintendentents. the call came in and said the biscaglia is being attacked by pirates, and has been captured. it was those words that set in motion 56 and plus days worth of intense negotiations and

strattizing on a bunch of different levels. >> how do you make contact, how do you know what number to call? >> we had a special phone set up for communication with the pirates. this is where all of the negotiations and all of the communications occurred with the pirates. of course, we had our special pirate phone. they were the only ones that had this number. so our objective for the duration of the crisis was to always be available for this phone and by this phone. the things that are in the back of your mind, are they going to execute someone and you hear it on the phone? is it going to be real or is it going to be fake? what do you tell the families? >> tell me about, there was a grandmother of one of the crewmembers. >> granny. >> who wouldn't eat. >> granny went on a hunger strike. it's when her son, the seafarer 's father called me up and said, look, my mother, his grandmother is on a hunger

strike, she will not eat. that's when i said, okay, call a family meeting, get everybody together, get me to india in 48 hours so i can prevent, you know, these emotions, which are very natural, very normal, from taking control and consuming the situation. i flew over there and for five hours i was surrounded by probably 90 family members asking me questions and trying to implore them to try to live as normal a life as they could and to make them understand that their loved once' safety was as important to me as it was to them and that we were going to do absolutely everything that we could to get them out safely. at the end of, you know, those four hours, granny started to eat. >> tell me about the negotiations, how you arrived at a money figure. >> i will tell you tactically

it's really no more complicated or sophisticated that negotiating the purchase of a used car. they start high, you start low, and through tedious gut-wrenching negotiations, designed to exhaust each other to the point where they just want to be done with you, you finally arrive at a price. >> on january 22nd, 2009, 56 days after the ship was taken, a plane dispatched by christodoulou dropped over $1 million into the ocean next to the biscaglia. hours later the pirates escaped and the crew was free. >> we had a very elaborate reunion of the crew with their families, and we provided physical, psychological counseling. we stay in touch with them. they knew how well they took care of their families. others said this was really a

human drama. it was a hostage crisis. i cared about the men and their families and we focused everything on making sure they were taken care of. >> the world waits to hear the fate of the hundreds of others still held hostage by pirates. >> when we come back, would having guns onboard help end this pirate siege? a look at the psychological toll that piracy takes on the crew. call now to get the proven technology of a broadview security system installed for just $99. day or night, broadview is on the job, ready to respond when trouble strikes. i'm sending help right now. (announcer) the same professional monitoring you expect from brink's home security, you can now expect from broadview security - for home and business. broadview security - the next generation of brink's home security. call now.

>> with pirate attacks increasing around the world, ship owners still differ about how best to protect their ships at sea. >> my personal belief is although it sounds like a simple solution, it's far more complex. >> it's a very tricky thing in the hands of people who aren't used to handling them. they can be very dangerous to the guy holding the gun. what you want to do is put as many barriers and obstacles in the way first. and that can be done through careful planning, rigorous training. >> on november 18 the maersk alabama, the same u.s. ship taken april 8th, was attacked again. the captain from that hostage

drama, richard phillips, was not at the helm. this time they were armed and fired warning shots to repel the attacks. but while the world applauded another heroic effort by the maersk alabama, they are now experiencing controversy. last year phillips was welcomed home as a hero after being rescued. >> to protect his crew from further danger, captain phillips agreed to go with the pirates into a lifeboat where he was held hostage at gunpoint for five days. >> but crew engineer mike perry said that was not the case. >> he did not give himself up to save the crew. he did not put himself in danger to save us. and it was us that fought for 33 hours to rescue him. >> perry said captain phillips ignored recommendations to stay at least 600 miles offshore. the ship was taken at 400 miles. experts say proper planning of the ship's course is crucial. >> look at how you are planning

your passage, try to avoid high piracy hears. we monitor progress of ships, we look at what the weather is doing. >> our recommendation to the ship is they stay as well clear ever the somali coast. >> he wants to return to the ship in march of 2010. mike perry said he and other crewmembers don't want him back. >> you can't turn this thing around that is snowballing. fine, he's got it, let him have it, but don't come back and threaten our lives again. we don't want it. >> for the 20 countries of task for 151, securing the 1.1 million miles of ocean is a daunting task. >> right now the international community has unprecedented naval task force in the area. >> it is fantastic, and certainly when i prepared for this job, if anybody had told me been seven months of taking over i would be hosting a meeting where all of those navies are

working together. >> what about the iranians? a few days ago they announced they want to join the fight against piracy and they have provided a ship. do you think that's an interesting ship on what's going on internationally? do you think they could help. >> the iranians are like any other nation, their people and cargo are at risk and they will go out and do what they can to protect their people and their cargo. >> do you see a possibility, though, for maybe the iranian navy working side by side with the coalition navies even though they are not exactly -- >> wow. the piracy has caused the world to change. i think in terms of the the iranians, anything is possible. >> we've seen them arrive into the coast. we are sharing information with them. they are sharing information with us. >> certainly iranian vessels, fishing and cargo vessels, have been targeted by pirates in the past, as those of many other

countries. so iran has a legitimate interest. but i think they are using their legitimate interest to be able to expand their military reach in an area where they are already having strategic interest. >> despite the different approaches for providing security former chant vessels as sea, most agree the long-term collusion can only be found on land. >> i think there's no room for tolerance of piracy, and at the moment the international response is a rather weak one. >> we need to make it unpleasant for them to be a pirate and that's part of our campaign plan, as well. we are actually looking to prosecute them. we currently have about 220 awaiting prosecution in various parts of the world, the majority in kenya. >> the only long-term, of and stable solution to piracy is to provide the youth who are recruited at pirates with an alternative way of making a

living. >> you don't treat the symptom, you treat the cause, the root cause. >> we need to create a government inside government that can deal with this situation. >> there's more ahead when fox news reporting "pirates of the 21st century" continues. [ male announcer ] let's talk about putting our best square foot forward. then let's do more than talk about it. let's turn picturing it into planning it,

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>> solving the problem of piracy in the gulf of aidsen not easy. navies around the world have galvanized to try to stop the piracy, but military officials admit there's no way to safeguard the nearly 20,000 merchant ships that pass through the area each year. the local shipping industry is considering placing armed guards on the ships but there are nations that would deny them entry into their ports then. as long as ship owners are willing to pay an average of $2 million in ransom, it's likely piracy will continue to flourish and the pirates will