The stakes have got higher and David Cameron is right to allow armed guards on British-flagged ships

First, there was a ship-wide sense of nervousness. Then, all portholes were filled with cardboard cut from cigarette boxes and apple cartons. We had reached the end of the Suez canal and pirate waters were dead ahead. Our ship was big and fast. Its 18 knots and 10 metre-high freeboard were thought to be impervious to pirates. But pirates learn.

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