The security teams, however, do much more than fire at threats.

They offer advice and training to the master of the vessel's crew. They identify the location of anti-piracy barriers and door chocks. They make sure there’s a citadel - a pre-planned, secure location where the crew can shelter during an attack or boarding. There are separate locations depending on whether there is a threat from above or the surface. Ambrey security guards also provide around-the-clock watch.

In addition, a lot of the security work takes place ahead of time. It starts with Ambrey's Guardian digital watchkeeping service. That consists of "pre-voyage planning with the vessel prior to entering a high risk area," said Hutchinson. "We will do a best management check, we'll choose the best route for that master that may change depending on dynamic elevated threat areas. It also comes down to potentially the time of day, depending on the size and class or the vessel, then then on top of that, we'll start to look at better mitigating factors for that particular vessel in terms of what else can be done."

Ambrey tracks 250,000 commercial vessels around the world and has technology to pick up anomalies in course and speed, Hutchinson said. The company feed constant information to vessels about best routes to avoid threats in the first place, including proximity to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian Navy assets, and Houthi-controlled areas.

The use of drones "in a direct attack is deliberate and intelligence led," the company's website states. "Avoid predictable routing behavior. Adjust routing, even by small margins, and avoid contested waters and higher risk areas."

Nothing, of course, is guaranteed. On Nov. 23, the cargo ship CMA CGM Symi was hit by what Hutchinson said was an Iranian-made Houthi Shahed-136 variant while transiting the Indian Ocean south of Oman, Hutchinson said.

You can see that attack in the video below Hutchinson shared with The War Zone. The drone strikes the ship and the ensuing explosion sparks a fire that was eventually extinguished.