To watch part two click here

Members of Arab league countries bordering the Red Sea are meeting in Cairo to find a way to solve the piracy problem in the Horn of Africa.

What can they do to address this escalating problem when some of the mightiest naval forces in the world have failed? How is it that gangs of men in small boats can hold a whole industry to ransom?

The US Navy says that the military coalition cannot effectively patrol the 2.5 million square miles of water.

The inability of naval forces to secure the region may lead to private security firms taking over. This would cost shipping companies and the countries they come from even more.

It is already ten times more expensive to insure ships for a trip through this perilous stretch of water than it was in previous years. The added costs of piracy will be high on the agenda of the Cairo meeting.

Presenter Sohail Rahman is joined by Richard Spector, an international and shipping law specialist with ELS; Jan Fritz Hansen, the executive vice-president of the Danish Shipowners' Association; and Mark Calter, a maritime security analyst at Olton Solutions.

This episode of Inside Story airs from 1730GMT on Thursday, November 20, 2008 and is repeated at 2030GMT the same day and also at 0430GMT and 0830GMT on Friday, November 21, 2008.

To contact us click on send your feedback.

Share your views about this subject and many others by joining the debates in the Your Views section of our website.

Watch more Al Jazeera English programmes and news reports via YouTube.