Vessels will always be prone to piracy because of where it originates, says Capt. Richard Phillips, master of the ill-fated Maersk Alabama.

"I think piracy starts ashore -- lawlessness, lack of government control, lack of policing," he told TradeWinds Monday.

He said the illegal practice is "the second oldest profession, that I know of, in the world," noting that the Malacca Straits has been a piracy center for thousands of years.