When I first heard it I thought it was a sick joke, and, while the evidence is building, I still hope it is. Ananova reports that luxury ocean liners in Russia are offering pirate hunting cruises aboard armed private yachts off the Somali coast.
Wealthy punters pay £3,500 (US$5,800) per day to patrol the most dangerous waters in the world hoping to be attacked by raiders.
When attacked, they retaliate with grenade launchers, machine guns and rocket launchers, reports Austrian business paper Wirtschaftsblatt.
Passengers, who can pay an extra £5 a day for an AK-47 machine gun and £7 for 100 rounds of ammo, are also protected by a squad of ex special forces troops.
The yachts travel from Djibouti in Somalia to Mombasa in Kenya.
The ships deliberately cruise close to the coast at a speed of just five nautical miles in an attempt to attract the interest of pirates.
'They are worse than the pirates,' said Russian yachtsman Vladimir Mironov. 'At least the pirates have the decency to take hostages, these people are just paying to commit murder.'
by Des Ryan
8:56 PM Sun 28 Jun 2009 GMT
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