South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries on Sunday rolled out a system to help ships detect and fend off pirates, after the recent hijacking of a South Korean freighter near Somalia alarmed shippers.
The nation's third-largest shipbuilder said the new anti-piracy system detects smaller boats in the vicinity often undetected under existing marine radar systems and issues an automatic alert when approached.
"The alert is issued when an approaching vessel does not respond to usual ship-to-ship radio communications or shows unusual navigating patterns and speed," the company spokesman told AFP.
The system allows sailors in a navigation room to remotely control water cannons on the ship's deck that can up to 70 metres (230 feet) when pirates attempt to climb aboard. "That way, crew will be safe from potential shooting attacks from pirates when firing the water cannons," said the spokesman, adding the system is applicable to most existing ships.