Cruise liner fends off pirate attack (off the coast of Somalia)

[wakeme2008]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/11/05/somalia.pirates/index.html

Cruise liner fends off pirate attack

By CNNRadio's Matt Cherry and Amanda Moyer
Saturday, November 5, 2005; Posted: 4:41 a.m. EST (09:41 GMT)

(CNN) -- A luxury cruise line will re-evaluate whether to offer future cruises off the coast of Somalia after pirates attempted to attack one of its ships early Saturday.

The modern-day pirates were in two small boats and carrying machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade when they attempted the attack on Seabourn Cruise Lines' "Spirit" about 5:35 a.m. local time Saturday, Deborah Natansohn, president of the cruise line, told CNNRadio.

The ship was carrying 150 passengers and a crew of about 160.

The ship, she said, immediately instituted its emergency response system. "The occupants of those boats did not succeed in boarding the ship and eventually turned away ... our captain and crew did a terrific job taking responsive action."

..more at link...



Ship Facts

Seabourn Spirit
* - Ship facts: Tonnage: 10,000
* Length: 440 feet
* Width: 63 feet
* Draft: 16.5 feet
* Speed: 18 knots
* Passenger Capacity: 208 guests
* Crew Capacity: 150

[rpannier]

1. Nice to see the spirit of the 17th Century lives on

On a serious note. I'm glad they failed.

[wakeme2008]

2. The company's name is The Yachts of Seabourn

and they are a Carnival company. 6 star cruises.

BUT if you look at the picture this just looks like a big yacht. And other ships have had problems there

"On Thursday, the United Nations' World Food Programme warned that hijackings off the coast of Somalia were restricting the delivery of needed food assistance to the country.
"The southern Somali coastline is one of the most dangerous in the world," the WFP said on its Web site."

[Scooter24]

3. I've been on the Spirit's sister ship,

the Seabourn Legend. Beautiful ships.

I hope the line withdraws this port immediately.

[wakeme2008]

5. Them and Silverseas

I would guess the Radisson 50,000 ton ships would be OK at sea but the small ships IMHO should avoid this area. :(

[Kindigger]

4. Pirates

We need more pirates. The Flying Spaghetti Monster needs more pirates.
;)

[annabanana]

9. no..more people DRESSING like pirates

apostate

[Kindigger]

23. I have sinned

I shall genuflect to my rotini, and say three hail spaghetti.

[NuttyFluffers]

31. indeed, sub-machine guns do not equal ruffles and eye patches

they are a blight to the true faith, such false pirates are.

[sarcasmo]

21. Good day brother Pastafarian.

[wakeme2008]

6. BBC report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4409662.stm

One crew member was lightly injured in the early-morning incident in waters notorious for pirate attacks.

The ship was hit by bullets but not, apparently, by the rocket-propelled grenade.

It used an on-board loud acoustic bang to deter the gunmen.


Mmmmmm sounds interesting....

[Robert Murphy]

7. Arrrr!!!

...What a scurvy buncha amateurs!

Seriously, why the hell did the ship plot a course through that region in the bloody first place?!? As Wakeme makes note of, that the Horn of Africa is infested with pirates as of late is common knowledge. 10,000 tons and 18 knots... Those pirates must have been drooling! Big enough to host said 208 (wealthy) guests, yet small enough to be perfectly 'subdue-able.' (I.e. unlikely to have much of security contingent; a ship of this size could be hijacked by only a few well-armed men.) Also, 18 knots must be the ship's cruising speed, not its maximum; while speedy by merchant marine standards, this is quite slow for an ocean liner. That small, fast pirate craft could not overtake it at 18 knots is almost incredible.

On another note...

Is it me, or have we lately seen a rash of brave, level-headed, and consummately professional behavior on the part of those who man (and 'woman') air and cruise liners? That plane which was struck by lightning as it landed; after roughly two minutes it was engulfed in flames. Yet not even a single injury due to an astonishingly orderly and efficient evacuation on the part of its crew. In Los Angeles, the nose gear of an Airbus fails soon after takeoff; the pilot brings the plane back down without further incident. Now add to this some sterling seamanship on the part of the captain of that cruise liner.

Ah! Competence! Dedicated, well-trained people who know what the h*ll they're doing--FOR A CHANGE! Need I name another group of people whose 'professional' behavior stands in sharp contrast? ;)

Robert

[wakeme2008]

8. I do no know about Seabourn

But Radisson uses Indian Gurkhas for security. And I would not want to know what "tools" they bring onboard for security. :eyes:

One line, I forget the name, uses top of the line Israeli security.

All in all the Cruise lines do take security seriously.

[Robert Murphy]

15. I Stand (Seriously) Corrected

Yikes! The prospect of a kukri knife in the hands of a Ghurka is inimidating enough; no doubt their assortment includes far more than just that. (Er, at the risk of being a tiring, pedantic boob, aren't the Ghurkas actually Nepalese?)

Well, as 'hairy-chested' as this may sound, given that pirates are characteristically among the world's most brutal, pitiless criminals, after what you have told me, I almost wish those bastards HAD successfully boarded that ship. ;)

Robert

[wakeme2008]

24. From a cruise board

"when cruising through the Straits of Malacca, on the Spirit earlier this year, we decided to go on-deck late one evening, to our surprise we encountered a couple of Gurkhas. They were very friendly but also very professional, and responded that there were a number of them on-board while in this area of the world. Captain Pederson was also in charge, he is very professional and an extremely nice person."


Sounds like the ship was well prepared for that part of the world.

[Centered]

25. Royal Caribbean has several onboard

employed into thier security teams (Gurkhas)... nice guys but DO NOT EVER mess with them.

*edit One guy I knew would flat out run for about an hour before turning around and running back to the ship for excersize. (I really mean Run... not jog)

[rpannier]

18. The people you described will never find themselves in scrub admin

You know the "Dedicated, well-trained people who know what the h*ll they're doing..."

[henslee]

10. Nuts. Wow.

[derby378]

11. ginbarn sez: "Ahrrr!! There be slot machines afoot!!"

Then again, her family tree does include some honest-to-God pirates. Just pray for death if she storms the shrimp cocktail buffet.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

12. Somalian autorities are investigating THIS man...

:evilgrin:

[wakeme2008]

13. You Bad

:evilgrin:

[Gman]

17. That man continues to be dead for many years now

including when this picture was taken.

[rayofreason]

14. Pirates are alive and well...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0525946799/002-8483598-8664858?v=glance

...and especially active near Singapore.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1337479,00050004.htm
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501041206-832306,00.html

[BiggJawn]

16. "Hmm....Screw the 'Black Pearl', I like the cut of THAT one better.."

[davsand]

19. So do I--but not for the same reason, BiggJawn!

Johnny Depp--Yuuuum--er, I mean Aaaargh! I'd walk that plank any time! :)



Laura

[LeftyMom]

22. I'm sorry what were we talking about again?

:9

[TroubleMan]

20. Now that's an Adventure Cruise!!!

nt

[drb]

26. I got my pirate solution right here!

Turn right at 'em and hit the fuckin' gas!

[skooooo]

27. Pirates open fire on US cruise ship off Somalia

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051106/ts_nm/crime_pirates_dc

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at a U.S.-owned cruise ship carrying more than 300 people in the Indian Ocean on Saturday but the vessel escaped and no one was hurt, its owners said.

Men in two small boats approached the Seabourn Cruise Line ship Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast, fired on it and tried to board in an apparent bid to rob passengers and crew, cruise line spokesman Bruce Good said.

"I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away," said Norman Fisher, 55, a passenger.

"They were firing the rifle and then fired the rocket launcher twice. One of the rockets certainly hit the ship. It went through the side of the liner into a passenger's suite."

[wakeme2008]

28. You are around 12 hours late

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1902616

see my post in GD about a Cruise forum member that was on the ship and one picture he took :)

[KittyWampus]

29. It went through the side of the liner into a passenger's suite???

and the grenade didn't explode?

Strange story has me wondering if it was Zaraqawi on a sea vacation.

[wakeme2008]

30. No RPG firing :)

Per a poster on a Cruise forum that was on the ship. BUT he does have a picture and Sky News has it. He posted one on the forum

Follow my link in this post for the picture.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5277364&mesg_id=5277364

[norml]

32. Cruise passenger in pirate attack

1:56am (UK)
Cruise passenger in pirate attack


A British tourist told how he watched helplessly as pirates fired a rocket launcher at his luxury cruise liner.

Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from Hampstead Garden Suburb in north London was on the Seabourn Spirit 100 miles off Somalia in Africa when the attack from small boats took place.


The first many bleary-eyed passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen came on the public address system and said: "Stay inside, we're under attack."

Terrified passengers, including 18 from Britain, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of a grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.

Mr Fisher said: "I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away.

snip

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2202952005

BBC News Cruise passenger in pirate attack
Scotsman, United Kingdom - 1 hour ago
A British tourist told how he watched helplessly as pirates fired a rocket launcher at his luxury cruise liner. Solicitor Norman ...
Cruise ship escapes pirate hijack attempt San Jose Mercury News
Passengers tell of pirate attack BBC News
Cruise liner escapes pirate attack off Somalia CTV.ca
CTV.ca - Telegraph.co.uk - all 466 related »

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=pirate

[tularetom]

33. Aaaargh

[noahmijo]

34. You just had to post that picture of Captain Morgan

You just had to make me laugh at what in reality is not funny....but dammit you put that picture up and I picture the Cap'n with a freakin shoulder mounted ballistic missle launcher....

Ah the story says nobody died or was seriously hurt so it's okay to ROTFL


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[proReality]

35. Inflatable pirate boat solution: carefully aimed emergency flares! n/t

edited for spacing.

[LunaSea]

36. Pirates,Pirates everywhere......

[DesertRat]

37. Great picture!!

:applause:

[MADem]

42. Fantastic image!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[electricray]

38. Whew! I guess this means that global warming will be reversing itself

Praise Flying Spaghetti Monster

[pinniped]

39. Would this even be possible?

--They did not return fire at the pirates.--

[IggleDoer]

40. Pirates with rockets???

Sounds an awful lot like terrorists to me. Of course, since there were "'muricans" on the ship, calling them "terrorists" would mean that our people were attacked and the brave Repubicans could no longer say that President Katrina was diligently keeping us safe from terrorists.

[MADem]

43. This shit has been going on for some time=they are simply THIEVES

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4363344.stm

Pirates have seized a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia, local officials have confirmed. ... The hijackers are reportedly demanding a $700,000 (£394,000) ransom for the release of the ship and its crew, all believed to be Ukrainian.

More than 20 ships have been seized or attacked in the area since March.

The International Maritime Bureau - which records such attacks - has recently advised ships "to keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast".
...

[Eugene]

41. AP: Pirates May Have Also Attacked U.N. Ship

Pirates May Have Also Attacked U.N. Ship


Sunday November 6, 2005 2:16 PM

AP Photo NY109

By RODRIQUE NGOWI

Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The pirates who attacked a luxury cruise liner
off Somalia's coast were likely to have been from the same group that
hijacked a U.N.-chartered vessel in June and held its crew and food
aid hostage for 100 days, a maritime official said Sunday.

<snip>

Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers
Assistance Program, said the location of the attack would indicate
the pirates were probably from a group that seized a U.N.-chartered
ship on a humanitarian mission on June 27.

That group - led by Mohamed Abdi Hassan and a warlord nicknamed
Dhagweyne - is one of three well-organized bands operating along
Somalia's 1,880-mile coastline, the longest in Africa. Several other
bands are in the country, Mwangura and U.N. officials said.

Mwangura said the attack on the luxury cruise liner shows that pirates
from anarchic Somalia are becoming bolder and more ambitious in their
efforts to hijack ships for ransom and loot.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5396292,00.html