Antananarivo, Madagascar - As delegates from 45 countries met in Nairobi to discuss a coordinated front against Somali piracy, the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar further south was preparing for the opening of a museum that documents the history of piracy on the high-seas under the skull and crossbones flag.

A Swiss national has founded the Pirates' Museum in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island and a favourite former ambush point for ships travelling between Africa and Asia.

The museum explores more than 300 years of the swashbuckling history of piracy, focusing on the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Visitors also gain insight into the lives of famous pirates, both male and female, including the notorious Black Beard, who terrified travellers on the Caribbean during the early 18th century, and Scotland's William Kidd.

The rumoured pirates' enclave of Libertalia in northern Madagascar also gets a mention.

Libertalia, the story goes, was a pirates' utopia, where they could live in freedom and harmony, sharing their bounty with each other and tilling the land.

The website of the museum, which opens on December 20, also says it organizes "pirate parties".

For more information, see www. piratenmuseum. li (dpa)