Britney Spears songs are a secret weapon against Somali Pirates. The "Work Bitch" singer has been trying to reinvent her image, but she probably didn't come up with this one.

Britney Spears has always been a weapon, pop charts melted when she first took off her Mouseketeer ears and her songs hit the dance floor.

As Britney Spears is busy with the release of her new album, Britney Spears has a big surprise, her voice and the pounding bass lines are painful to pirates.

Naval security learned that blasting Britney Spears at high decibels stops oncoming pirates in their tracks. Pirates think twice about boarding sea vessels when they hear Britney coming off the loud speakers.

Merchant navy officer Rachel Owens said "'Hit Me Baby One More Time' is a big one. And 'Oops I Did It Again.' The reason why pop songs are very good is because they have a lot of high-pitched noises and bass notes, which are particularly painful when they're played at ridiculously high volumes."

Britney isn't dangerous, she doesn't harm the pirates, she is just a deterrent. Owens said "It's completely directional. You can stand next to the noise cannon and you can hear it, but it's not painful. But if you stand in front of it at a close range, it would rupture your ear drums."

Steven Jones, maritime director at the Security Association for the Maritime Industry said Britney Spears songs were "first used on cruise ships - most noticeably the Seaborne Spirit, which was attacked off Somalia. The LRAD is capable of generating sounds of up to 162dB, which is higher than the human threshold of pain (without ear defenders) which is generally regarded as around 130 dB. Rather than Britney actually making them break off their attack, it could be they are instead going to seek a softer, unprotected target, one which may not be so vigilant and protected," Jones said.

352 global maritime security incidents have been recorded this year.

Britney Spears has not yet commented on her new role as seaward security.