There have been at least 83 acknowledged pirate attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year, 33 of them successful enough to command a ransom.
And although business plans cannot reproduce, successful ones do command a growing share of the economy's resources, as companies expand on the back of them and rivals copy them.
British military advisers - visible around the city, but not talking to journalists - are among those trying to help the National Transitional Council in Benghazi to establish what many see as a prerequisite for any successful military push against Gaddafi loyalists - a clear command structure.