LAGOS , Nigeria -- Incident details : `` Armed pirates chased , boarded and hijacked a fishing trawler underway '' southeast of Mogadishu , Somalia . `` Several persons armed with machine guns , rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machetes attempting to climb onboard with use of rope '' at Lagos anchorage , Nigeria . The Yemeni coast guard patrols the Gulf of Aden in March . Reading the International Maritime Bureau 's Live Piracy Report a catalog of piracy reports from around the world , two names crop up with disturbing frequency : Somalia and Nigeria . The list reads like a history book telling tales of the buccaneers of old -- daring raids , kidnappings and ransoms . But these days , Africa 's pirates are using automatic weapons and grenades . Thousands of miles apart , Somalia 's and Nigeria 's pirates have no communication , and their circumstances are very different . Somalia is a barren , dusty failed state , and Somali pirates operate in the vast Gulf of Aden . Pirates in Nigeria operate from the sprawling metropolis of Lagos harbor to the riverine creeks of the Niger Delta region . But they 're after the same thing : money . Watch how negotiations with pirates take place » . And to get it they seem to be feeding off each other 's ideas . `` One of the interesting things about piracy offshore West Africa is that it has started to mimic piracy trends off the Horn of Africa , places like Somalia , '' explained Rolake Akinola , West Africa analyst at Control Risks . `` Some of the tactics used are increasingly sophisticated . Sophisticated weaponry is used by some of those pirate groups , and it 's becoming much more violent . '' The tactics employed often involve small speedboats pulling up alongside their target , boarding and , often resorting to violence , kidnapping the crew or cargo . Watch a shipping company chief describe being hijacked » . Ransoms can run into the millions of dollars . In Somalia last year , the hijacked Saudi oil tanker Sirius Star was released after a $ 3 million ransom was dropped by helicopter to the pirates . Local governments in Nigeria 's Niger Delta often keep a special fund to pay kidnappers . Hundreds have been kidnapped in the past few years , with American and British hostages in particular considered `` high-value . '' In countries where the majority of the population lives on less than $ 2 a day , the ransoms are considerable amounts of money . And the money is often splashed out on flashy Humvees , flat-screen TVs and more weapons . Visiting pirates in the swamps of the Niger Delta , we were taken to the commander 's new home . Surrounded by mud huts in the mangroves , a generator powered a refrigerator filled with bottles of champagne that the men drank as they played on their imported pool table . They were all young men who complained about the lack of job opportunities and were enticed into piracy by promised riches on show at the commander 's house . Off Somalia 's coast , a NATO-led task force is trying to crack down on Somali pirates . And the U.S. Navy is making frequent visits to West Africa to train local navies to combat pirates . `` The task force are doing a fantastic job , and they are very much welcome , '' said Michael Howlett , divisional director of the International Maritime Bureau . He pointed out that in February , for every eight attacks , there was only one hijacking . But the bureau also says 2009 has seen a spike in pirate attacks , particularly off the east coast of Somalia . More than 15 attacks were reported by March . With their attacks , pirates are challenging not just international shipping lanes but Africa 's rule of law . The pirates are now operating hundreds of miles from their bases . Somali pirates operate freely along the coastlines of Kenya and Tanzania , with the potential to threaten tourists on the beaches . In March , Somalis hijacked a yacht and its crew of seven off the Seychelles . Earlier this year , unknown Nigerian gunmen attacked the presidential palace in Equatorial Guinea . They were eventually chased away by a military helicopter . To combat the problem , analysts like Akinola are agreed : More is needed than military force . `` Governments need to look at some of the social and underlying economic issues that allow piracy , so issues around governance and the provision of social services to populations in many of the countries affected . ''
Some experts say pirates in East and West Africa are after the same thing . Tactics and weapons are becoming more sophisticated . Ransom money is spent on luxury cars , more expensive . International Maritime Bureau in 2009 has seen a spike in pirate attacks .