Many of the pirates operating off the coast of Somalia were given special forces-style training from Western firms, a special report by Al Jazeera has found.
 
Some security firms currently protecting shipping from the pirates had been engaged to train them a decade ago.
 
One company, Hart Security, coached trainees to be the "coastguard" of Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region - providing protection from illegal fishing in the region.
 
In this exclusive report, Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan found that Western companies, involved at all levels of the business, can now expect to make up to half a million dollars from the average $2 million "ransom and release" contracts they are awarded to solve.