They may not wear peg legs, carry parrots and fly the Jolly Roger, but pirates, it turns out, are alive and well.

Real-life pirates attacked or attempted to attack 293 ships in 2008, according to the International Chamber of Commerce, which tracks armed crimes at sea. Thats one attack about every 30 hours.

Piracy made headlines last month, when a U.S. ship captain was taken hostage off the coast of Somalia and then rescued by U.S. Navy Seals.

Anatomy of a pirate attack

This sequence describes a fictional Somali pirate attack using composite details from real-life attacks, according to experts interviewed by The Bulletin.

1. In early morning, 10 pirates, ages 18 to 21, depart with a fishing fleet from a coastal village in Somalia. They have machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and a few small speedboats.

2. Pirates pick out a ship for attack. Some pirates have rudimentary radar equipment.

But these pirates, like most, simply scan the horizon with their bare eyes to spot a target.

3. The pirates follow the ship at a distance. At dusk, they pull up to the stern of the boat and use grappling hooks to latch onto the deck railing, then climb aboard using thin rope ladders.

4. The crew of 20 are busy manning the vessel and dont notice the invaders. If they did, they might try to out-maneuver the speedboats or spray the pirates with a water hose, for example. Doing this would, however, risk gunfire from the pirates.

5. The crew hurries to lock itself in the control room and disable the ship. If successful, the pirates are locked out of the control room and unable to steer the ship. They might steal some ropes and other items from the deck, then leave.

6. But these pirates manage to wrest control of the ship and take the crew hostage. They anchor near their home village, then use the ships communications system to demand $15 million in ransom. After several weeks of negotiations, the company that owns the ship drops $2.5 million, in cash, by helicopter.

PAYMENTS

In some cases, pirates accept a ransom and then, instead of releasing their hostages, demand more money. It is not unusual for months to pass before a crew and ship are finally freed.

EASY TARGETS

Pirates prey on ships that are slow and low. No ship traveling faster than 15 knots, or about 17 mph, has been successfully attacked. Ships with decks less than 18 feet above sea level are easiest to climb aboard.