Samsung Heavy Industries Co., South Korea’s third-largest shipbuilder, said Sunday it has developed an anti-piracy solution system that can track down and repel nearby pirate ships.
The development of an anti-piracy system comes amid rising alarm that overseas pirates are targeting South Korean ships. On Friday, South Korean naval special forces successfully rescued 21 seamen and their 11,500-ton cargo ship, the Samho Jewelry, that was hijacked by Somali pirates.
Two months earlier, a South Korean supertanker was also released after being held captive by Somali pirates for seven months, in exchange for a reported ransom of around $9 million.
According to Samsung Heavy, the new system tracks down suspected pirate ships within 10 kilometers by analyzing their speed and direction. The anti-piracy solution also features a surveillance system that records real-time videos of suspected ships and water cannons with a maximum range of 70 meters, the shipbuilder said.
