A look at how Somali pirates operate

As piracy explodes off Somalia's lawless coast, the questions become ever more stark: How can ragtag bands of Somali pirates stand up to international warships? And why not just shoot the bandits when they try to clamber aboard?

First, the pirates are not as ragtag as one might expect. And second, it's a big ocean.

In Somalia, pirates are well-funded, well-organized and have easy access to heavy weapons in a country that has been in tatters for nearly two decades. Pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and have an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.

Any blip on an unwary ship's radar screens, alerting the crew to nearby vessels, is likely to be mistaken for fishing trawlers or any number of smaller, non-threatening ships that take to the seas every day.

It helps that the pirates' prey are usually massive, slow-moving ships, such as the Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million worth of crude that was hijacked last month.

By the time anyone notices, pirates will have grappled their way onto the ship, brandishing AK-47s.

Beyond that, the bandits are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades - weaponry that is readily available throughout Somalia, where a bustling arms market operates in the capital, Mogadishu.

To date, pirates have raked in some $30 million in ransom. Given free rein in a country with no stable government, the pirates have attacked more than 90 vessels this year and seized more than 36, everything from ships carrying palm oil and chemicals to luxury yachts. Besides the oil tanker, other high-profile seizures include a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks.

Their focus has been the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, where 20,000 merchant ships a year pass on the way in and out of the Suez Canal, the quickest route from Asia to Europe and the Americas. Three NATO and Russian vessels and up to 15 other warships from a multinational force are patrolling there, along with a number of U.S. Navy ships.

But NATO and the U.S. Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks. Military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky for hostages and, to this point, uncommon.

Governments, navies, oil companies and ship owners are scrambling for solutions, and finding few options are ideal. At least one private security company said it has been flooded with requests from shipping companies for protection.

Experts say the pirates on the ships are generally paid a fixed amount. The negotiations are done by middlemen who have access to satellite phones and speak English.

If the ship is held for a long time, the middlemen may put together a group of investors who raise cash for supplies and other costs that will be recouped once the ransom is paid.