Pirate Hunting' is the first film that takes a deeper look at piracy and its reasons, showing international big business interests behind the acts of greed and violence.

The film features exclusive footage from the homes of the pirates in Somalia as well as from the hijacked Russian vessel MV Faina, where the crew filmed with a hidden mobile phone, smuggled out in one of the crew members’ underwear.

Piracy is big scale theft, but when risk hits one of the aortas of world shipping, the Somalian pirates aren’t the only ones making big bucks. Huge investments and expensive cargoes are at stake. The piracy capital of the world is not necessarily Eyl in Somalia, but just as much London. Here we find insurance companies, lawyers, specialized negotiators and professional ransom handlers. It’s all big business, and more money is probably spent here than what actually ends up in Somalia.

The shipping companies that don’t trust the might of the EU force and are reluctant to cash out the extra insurance premiums might make other, more controversial arrangements. An industry freshly adapted to the situation is the security business. The films shows a secret training camp of one of these companies.

Based in Italy, young western men with a taste for adventure are recruited and trained to become armed sea marshals. Their methods are controversial, and their presence on ships much debated. The argument goes that violence towards pirates might well cause a more violent pirate attitude, remembering that few, if any, have yet died at the hands of Somali pirates. Few want to change this statistic.

And the bill for this growing, lucrative pirate industry? The shipping companies raise their prizes for transport and the insurance companies do the same. The bill finally ends up on the average consumer’s table. Everyone else seem to win; the pirates, the navy, the lawyers, the insurance companies and maybe even the shipping companies – all but normal people and of course a few sailors.