Cruise liner fends off pirate attack

[exposure]

Cruise liner fends off pirate attack

(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.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa...tes/index.html

I used to think pirates were just opportunists in the Somalia area. It sounds like they have stepped their efforts up a level.

[delmarrey]

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."

Passenger Mike Rogers of Vancouver, Canada, said the pirates were shooting and sending rockets at the boat.

"The captain tried to run one of the boats over, but they were small boats, about 25 feet long," he told CNNRadio affiliate CKNW in Vancouver.

"Each one had four or five people on it, and (the captain) said he was going to do anything to keep them from getting on board."

The captain, however, did not hit the alarm button to alert passengers of the emergency, Rogers said.

"He announced it over the speakers, because he was scared people would run up on deck, and he didn't want people on deck because they would have been shot."

The cruise ship eventually outran the pirates' boats, Natansohn said. One person suffered minor injuries, she said, but did not elaborate.

"There's some minor damage done to the ship," Rogers said. "There's no water right now, for instance, in some places, and I believe one of the grenades actually went off in one of the cabins, but everyone on board is fine."

The boat is now en route to the Seychelles Islands, Natansohn said.

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.

"In recent months, WFP's operations in Somalia have been sabotaged by the hijackings of two vessels carrying relief food. Ship owners are now demanding armed escorts to travel in these waters."

Natansohn said efforts were underway Saturday to locate the pirates. "We have notified U.S., Canadian and Australian authorities, because most of our passengers come from those three countries, as well as local authorities in Africa."

"Seabourn 'Spirit' has offered itineraries in that part of the world before, but we'll obviously be looking at the incident to determine what to do in the future," she said.

Rogers said, "we're always looking for adventure, but this is probably a little more than we would normally look for."

The upside, if there is one, is that when the big money folks are imposed upon, the politicians pay attention. The more big targets the dirtbags go after, the more effective enforcement will be put in place. The trickle down effect is less danager to cruisers.

[BambooSailor]

Does anyone know something about the sonic device that was reportedly used to repel the pirates?

[GordMay]

Somali Pirates Release Hijacked Oil Tanker
11/21/05
The AP has reported that Somali pirates have released an oil tanker that they hijacked a month ago on its way from the United Arab Emirates to South Africa, a maritime official said Sunday. The MT San Carlo is now on its way to South Africa, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program. It was not immediately clear whether a ransom was paid for the release of the Malta-registered vessel and its crew of 24, Mwangura said. Several pirate groups operate along Somalia's 1,880-mile coastline, Africa's longest. The Horn of Africa nation has had no effective government since opposition leaders ousted a dictatorship in 1991 and then turned on each other, leaving the nation of 7 million a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms. On Nov. 5, two boats of pirates attacked a luxury cruise liner carrying mostly American as well as Australian and European passengers. The Seabourn Spirit sped away and no passengers were injured, but one of the 161-person crew was wounded by shrapnel in the raid, which occurred about 100 miles off Somalia's coast. The International Maritime Bureau, citing a sharp rise in piracy this year, has been warning ships to stay at least 150 miles away from Somalia's coastline.

[GordMay]

Oh boy - just what we need - a Private Corporate Navy !

TopCat Marine Security Hired to Eliminate Pirates

In response to this latest attack, the Somali “Government” has signed a contract with a security company that specializes in marine special operations. New York-based Topcat Marine Security* signed a deal worth more than $50 million with the Somali Transitional Federal Government, which is temporarily based in Nairobi, to escort ships traveling through Somali waters. Topcat is a private security agency offering clients law enforcement, counterterrorism and marine combat specialists. Topcat's client list includes the US Department of Homeland Security. They use state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment in order to mount offensive operations against pirates or terrorists who use the high seas for their acts of terrorism and piracy.

* http://www.topcatmarinesecurity.com/

From: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/25112005/1/...li-waters.html
”The Somali government signs a contract with a US security company to protect its waters from piracy. New York based Topcat marine security company signed a two year deal worth more than 50 million U.S. dollars (USD) with the Somali Transitional Federal Government in Nairobi to escort ships plying the dangerous Somali waters. Waters off the coast of Somalia are considered among the most dangerous in the world. Pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns recently tried to board a U.S.-owned cruiser ship about 100 miles (160km) off the Somali coast. STORY: Somalia's Prime Minister opens the way for U.S. security guards to run anti-pirate patrols off his country's coast. The deal is a recognition of the scale of the problem they face. SOUNDBITE: Mohamed Ali Gedi, Prime Minister saying (English): "The agreement signed today will defend Somalia's territorial waters and defeat the pirates, and put an end to the illegal fishing and the poaching of our precious natural marine resources. Our rich marine resources will no longer become the ill-gotten gains of poachers." After two years of relative calm, 32 acts of piracy have been reported off Somalia this year - including an attack on this ship carrying UN food aid for tsunami victims. Waters off the coast of Somalia are considered among the most dangerous in the world - the government and its new partners will hoping to change that.”
Stuart McDill, Reuters

[Alan Wheeler]

Hmmm, I can see the pro's and con's of this. Problem is, the con's could be worse than the pro's. I would have thought spending 50mill in otherways, as in sorting Somalia's economy, would have stopped the problem. As usuall, it's the old story of "The ambulance waiting at the bottom of the cliff" situation.