Britney Spears songs and Somali pirates
AI-generated editorial illustration of a cargo ship using a directional acoustic device toward a distant boat; depicts the reported maritime-security context without asserting a successful deterrence.
In 2013, merchant navy officer Rachel Owens said her vessel’s security team had played Britney Spears songs toward suspicious boats near the African coast several times. She said the loud, directional sound was meant to deter attackers. This is one officer’s account, reported by the media, not confirmation of successfully thwarted attacks or a British Army operation. A maritime security expert noted at the time that any deterrent effect could have come from the acoustic device rather than from the fact that the tracks were Britney Spears songs. [1, 2]