Hit Me Baby One More Time: Britney Spears songs used to scare off pirates in Somalia

Navy ships are using Britney Spears to scare off Somali
pirates.
Captains are playing the popstar's hits at full volume to
deter 'western culture-hating' pirates and stop them
boarding the ships, merchant navy officer Rachel Owens
revealed to the Metro.
Classic hits Baby One More Time and Oops! I Did It
Again are being used and have proved effective at
stopping kidnap attempts from bandits.
Second Officer Owens, who works on supertankers off the
east coast of Africa, said: 'Her songs were chosen by the
security team because they thought the pirates would hate
them most.
'These guys can't stand Western culture or music, making
Britney's hits perfect.'
'Hit Me Baby, One More Time': Somali pirates
apparently hate Western music – especially Britney
Spears
Vessels in the area come under attack frequently from
pirates who board the ships and demand multi-million-
pound ransoms.
One of the most high-profile cases was in 2009 when a
17,000 ton container ship, owned by Maersk Line, was
been hijacked by Somalia pirates with 20 crew members
aboard while sailing from Salalah in Oman to the Kenyan
port of Mombassa via Djibouti.
In 2011, there were 176 attacks on ships by gangs of
bandits off the Horn of Africa. Most recently, last
Thursday, Pirates attacked an oil supply vessel off the
Nigerian coast and kidnapped the captain and chief
engineer.
They are such a threat, the Royal Navy has 1,500 sailors
on 14 warships operating round-the-clock patrols in the
area.
Navy ships are blasting Britney hits to deter Somalian
pirates
Ms Owens, who guides tankers through the waters, said
the ship's speakers can be aimed at the pirates so the crew
are not disturbed.
'It's so effective the ship's security rarely needs to resort
to firing guns,' said the 34-year-old, from Gartmore, near
Aberfoyle, Stirling.
'As soon as the pirates get a blast of Britney, they move
on as quickly as they can.'
Steven Jones, of the Security Association for the
Maritime Industry, added: 'Pirates will go to any lengths
to avoid or try to overcome the music.'
'I'd imagine using Justin Bieber would be against the
Geneva Convention.'
Spears, who started her career in a 1990s revamp of the
Mickey Mouse Club (with Christina Aguilera, Justin
Timberlake… and Ryan Gosling), has always pointed to
Madonna and Janet Jackson as two of her major
influences.
Perhaps now she can boast that warding off piracy on the
high seas is an honour (albeit a dubious one) that Madonna
and Jackson can't claim.

Via: Daily mail