A report by a European military intelligence, which was cited by Spanish Radio, revealed that the pirates off the coast of Aden are provided with information by telephone contacts from Londen. The pirates have built up a network of informants in London with access to sensitive data from shipping companies about vessels, routes and cargoes, according to a European military intelligence report that Cadena Ser radio said it had seen. The intelligence report also said that the pirates seem to avoid attacking ships of some nationalities, including British ships.

According to the same report the pirates receive their information by satellite phone and use sophisticated equipment to locate their targets.

At least one of the top five groups of Somali pirates has advisers in London, who in turn provide them with detailed information about the ships; those are easy to be controlled, the report added.