Pirates twice, unsuccessfully, tried to board Italian ships (a 24,000 ton tanker, and a cargo ship). In both cases, the crew activated the fire fighting system, which sends large quantities of water down the hull (making it much more difficult to climb aboard), and got away. Several attacks like this are being reported each week, many of which succeed, with the crew being robbed and the ship looted. Commercial ships are told to particularly alert when passing near Somalia.