It's Britney, bitch, and she's saving sailors across the world. Because as it turns out, the latest and most effective method of deterring Somali pirates is blasting Britney Spears at them.

Like a reverse Siren, Britney's music is so effective at driving the pirates away, sailors rarely have to resort to gunfire.

"These guys can't stand western culture or music, making Britney's hits perfect," Rachel Owens, a merchant navy officer told the Mirror. "It’s so effective the ship’s security rarely needs to resort to firing guns."

Owens told ABC that her ships like to use "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and "Oops I Did It Again," because they have high-pitched tones and bass notes that are "particularly painful" when blasted directly at the pirates.

NBC also points out that American music has been used to torture other people for years — after Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" was played on loop for 20 days at a Kabul prison, "plenty lost their minds." And Navy SEALS used to use Metallica music to "soften" prisoners up before interrogating them.

[image via AP]