Pirates attack Seabourn

[ClaudiaF]

This from am news...

 

Pirates Open Fire on Cruise Ship Off Somalia

 

 

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NAIROBI, Kenya (Nov. 5) - Pirates in speed boats opened fire on a cruise liner carrying hundreds of tourists off the Somali coast on Saturday, but none of the vacationers were hurt, a shipping official and the ship's owners said.

 

Seabourn.com

Seabourn says on their Web Site that the Spirit and their other ships have "nearly the same number of staff as guests."

 

Talk About It: Post Thoughts

 

 

"Gunmen in two or three speed boats opened fire on the Seabourn Spirit while it was about 70 nautical miles off Somalia," said Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator for the Seafarers' Association in neighboring Kenya.

"The captain managed to change the course of the vessel and speed away. Most of the passengers are believed to be Americans or Western Europeans. No one was hurt," Mwangura said.

The Indian Ocean waters off the Somali coast are classed as among the most dangerous in the world.

The 10,000-ton Bahamas-registered Seabourn Spirit was believed to be carrying about 300 passengers and crew from Alexandria in Egypt to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Its owners, Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line, said the vessel had been rerouted to the Seychelles after the attack.

"Early this morning an attempt was made to gain access to the Seabourn Spirit while it was at sea," the company said in a statement. "The approach was successfully repelled."

A company official contacted in Britain gave no more details, but said all on board were safe."

"It is heading for the Seychelles now," she said.

Piracy off Somalia threatens shipping and has sabotaged the delivery of food aid to more than half a million hungry people in the region, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Hijackers have commandeered two vessels used by the U.N. World Food Program this year and ship owners now demand armed escorts to travel in the waters, the agency said.

This week, the London-based International Maritime Bureau said it knew of 27 pirate attacks off Somalia since March.

The attacks have highlighted insecurity in Somalia, which has had no government to enforce law and order since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

 

11-05-05 09:49 EST

 

wow pretty scarey stuff going on out there huh?

[PurpleCow]

Just saw this on the news. If there have been 27 pirate attacks since March and 2 UN vessels commandeered, with ship owners demanding armed escorts, my question is, what in the world was the Spirit doing there in the first place?

[Jancruz]

I am in deep shock that that could happen..glad the Captain kept going..I hate to think of what could of happened..what a story those people have to tell!!

Jan

*****

[digby]

Sorry event! I have always thought a cruise ship would make a perfect target for a group of terroists. Once out of the ports it would be so simple to attack it, and it would have no defense. Think what that would do to the cruise industry!

[LHT28]

my question is, what in the world was the Spirit doing there in the first place?

 

Same thing the Oceania ships will be doing.....transiting through the Red Sea on Nov 28th. Athens to Singapore and back to Athen in March and April.

Or maybe not after this attempt

[rayandbelle]

It is frightening to think such things can happen

[LHT28]

Pirates have been attacking ships in that part of the world for years and also in Indoneasian waters.

You usually don't hear about them but with new technology Passengers can call from cell phones, internet etc.... to inform the media.

Not many cruise ship have done that route before so this is a new thing of attacking cruise ships.

Anyone remember "Achille Laurel"??????

[mike35]

No, but I sure do remember the "Achille Lauro".

 

From what I've read and heard, the coast of Somalia is the most dangerous shipping place in the world. Many commercial shipping companies refuse to transit these waters without armed escorts. Again - I find it rather frightening that "naked" cruise ships would even think of transiting these waters.

 

Mike

[PurpleCow]

Same thing the Oceania ships will be doing.....transiting through the Red Sea on Nov 28th. Athens to Singapore and back to Athen in March and April.

Or maybe not after this attempt

I just looked (jealously) at that itinerary. It appears that the ship stays pretty much out of harm's way on its way to Dubai and after that it's out of the dangerous region, I think. Geography isn't my long suit. The Spirit turned right, rather than left, as it came around the horn, putting itself into what I think are the more dangerous waters.

[Liat]

Pirates do NOT roam the world. Piracy is geographically specific; that is, it is limited to a few areas in the world. Celebrity does not sail in waters which are subject to piracy - UNLESS, you count the prices charged in some ports. Of course Oceania does on the inagural Nautica cruise.

The Seabourne attack was off the coast of Somalia, a country which has had no real government for several years. Almost all other instances of attacks on small freighters have occured in the waters around Malasia-Indonesia-Phillipines. There are a few cruises. like Nautica's, which visit this part of the world and have theoretical exposure.

BUT, cruise ships are not exactly targets of opportunity for the pirates now operating in the world. These brigands usually have very small boats. The ones which attacked Seabourne Dream were no larger than Zodiacs, with five or six man crews. The Indonesian pirates may have larger vessels, but they are nowhere nearly big enough to mount a boarding attack on a typical large cruise ship with decks 30 to 40 feet above the waterline. In addition, the average cruise ship can make 20-25 knots, and outrun any of the craft pirates are likely to have. The pirates at large these days are marginal thieves without the capital necessary to buy and operate any high tech seagoing vessels.

Of course the real defense is the endless supply of ship's karaoke singers. Just pipe them into the PA system and any pirate will flee as fast as he can.

[drwong]

I think the original message from the Spirit got garbled, leading to the media frenzy. Captain Pedersen was actually reporting rodents in the galley, or as they call them in Norway, "pie rats." :D