'Whatever we do the pirates have adapted'

On his first day captaining a new ship, Peter Newton was subject to an attack by pirates. Newton believes he only survived the attack in the South China Sea because he had not yet got around to installing an alarm on the safe in his cabin.

"[The pirate] put me on my hands and knees and said 'if the alarm sounds, you will die instantly.' And I believed him," said the now-retired British captain.

In the event, the pirates, armed with knives and swords, made off with about €25,000 an...