SAN DIEGO -- Recently, a cruise ship nearly became the victim of modern day pirates. Fortunately, the Seaborne Spirit was equipped with a device invented and manufactured by a Poway company.

"It's very threatening when they come up along side of your vessel and you've got hundreds of civilians on there, unarmed. (You need) to determine what (to do), and this was part of that solution," Woddy Norris, with American Technology Corp, said.

American Technology Corporation fine-tuned their long-range acoustic device -- the Lrad -- which prevented the pirates, who had machine guns and grenade launchers, from getting too close to the cruise ship.

The Lrad projects a tone or a voice warning to a very specific area.

"So we've taken control of sound. We give you the ability to shine it like a light -- like a spotlight -- to put it where ever you want it (and) to illuminate somebody sonically," Norris said.

The non-lethal weapon, with ear-splitting sound, will stop someone in their tracks.

Your basic home smoke detector is roughly 80 decibles, 90 decibles is 10 times more powerful. The Lrad is 150 decibles, 10News reported.

It's loud enough to damage hearing. But other than that, the Irad doesn't cause physical harm. And using only low voltage, the Lrad doesn't run out of ammo.

"Unlike rubber bullets, you've got a volume control. You can turn it up or down so you only use what's required," Norris said.

In addition to some cruise ships, Lrad's are used by the military -- 300 are already in use in Iraq and they are installed on U.S. aircraft carriers and some cruise ships.

Each Lrad costs from $20,000 to $30,000.

Only one crew member on board the cruise ship that was attacked by pirates was slightly injured. None of the passengers were hurt.