With real time naval intelligence, thousands of Combined Maritime Force (CMF) sailors and dozens of warships available to protect commercial ships transiting Somali waters, MARLO has a lot of firepower at its disposal.

FORBES: Protecting Ships From Somali Pirates - The Navy vs Private Security

In 2012 the number of successful pirate seizures of merchant ships fell from a 2009 figure of 38 to 21 according to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) command in Bahrain but another statistic published by the group highlights a more troubling trend.

FORBES: Protecting Ships From Somali Pirates - The Navy vs Private Security

Municipal bond ETFs are nothing new. iShares, SPDR and PowerShares all offer municipal bond ETFs that either focus on particular states, like the iShares California AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund ETF ( CMF), or provide national exposure to munis, like the Insured National Municipal Bond Portfolio ETF ( PZA) from PowerShares.

FORBES: Tax-Free ETFs For The Little Guy

In a recent survey conducted by the maritime industry website gCaptain, only a small percentage of ship operators admitted to taking advantage of naval support, many were unaware of programs (e.g. public intelligence reports, convoys, etc) and, most surprisingly, some were not aware that naval officers are available at MARLO and CMF to answer their questions.

FORBES: Protecting Ships From Somali Pirates - The Navy vs Private Security