Pirates attack luxury liner off Somalia (attack repelled)

MarketWatch ^ | Nov. 5, 2005 | Jasmina Kelemen

[FairOpinion]

A luxury liner sailing off the coast of Somalia fended off an attack by gunmen in speedboats early Saturday morning in an area notorious for piracy.

None of the mostly American passengers aboard the Seabourn Spirit were harmed but one crew member was lightly injured as they repelled the attackers without returning fire.

The crew used an on-board loud acoustic bang to fight off the attackers, leading them to believer they were under heavy fire.

Since March 2005, there have been 23 attacks against oceangoing vessels, including one against a ship delivering food from the U.N.'s World Food Program.

[vbmoneyspender]

(Someone also needs to ask BBC, why "pirate" is in quotes.)

Wouldn't want to offend people who are employed in extralegal highseas salvaging operations.

[jimbo123]

Real Headline:

Al Qaeda Terrorists Fail At Hostage Taking Mission

[jimbo123]

Exactly. This was a failed Al Qaeda hijacking mission.

[ApplegateRanch]

2.75" "emergency flare" rockets...

"Weapons? WHAT weapons? We only fired off distress flares. Tragically, a couple of them accidentally hit the attacking vessles."

[FairOpinion]

Article from 2002:


Al-Qaeda Pirates Radioactive Cargo in Malacca: Report

http://english.people.com.cn/200207/22/eng20020722_100140.shtml

Al-Qaeda, an international terrorist network, is involved in the rising piracy against ships carrying radioactive materials through the Malacca Straits, an expert of regional affairs said.

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Al Qaeda 'threat to blow up ships'

August 2004

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/08/05/uk.terror.shipping/


LONDON, England (CNN) -- Intelligence shows al Qaeda has plans to blow up shipping in a bid to disrupt world trade, Britain's top Naval officer has said in an interview.


===

Blowing up a ship is much easier, than hijacking airplanes and it's just as spectacular.

[FairOpinion]

Al Qaeda-linked cell in Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- A new and ruthless cell with links to al Qaeda has grabbed a foothold in Somalia's capital, according to a report released Monday that dovetails with other analysis showing the lawless country could become a haven for international terrorists.

In its report, the International Crisis Group said the Mogadishu cell was led by a young Somali militant trained in Afghanistan, where al Qaeda was once based. The report said the group "announced its existence by murdering four foreign aid workers in the relatively secure territory of Somaliland between October 2003 and April 2004."

The Brussels-based group that tracks conflicts around the world said the threat of terrorism inspired by an extremist interpretation of Islam "in and from Somalia is real." It added that al Qaeda contributed to attacks on U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia in the early 1990s and used the country as a transit zone for attacks in neighboring Kenya, and as a hiding place for some of its leading members today.

U.S. officials could not be immediately reached for comment. But in May, the then-commander of a U.S. counterterrorism task force for the Horn of Africa said Somalia has become a haven for terrorists in East Africa.

[FairOpinion]

"Al Qaeda Terrorists Fail At Hostage Taking Mission"

===

You are probably right.

It's only a matter of time, before the next, better organized attempt.

[manwiththehands]

"The crew used an on-board loud acoustic bang to fight off the attackers, leading them to believer they were under heavy fire."

"BANG! YOU'RE DEAD!"
"AM NOT! AM NOT!"
"ARE TOO! ARE TOO!"

[sono]

Arrrrgghhh!

[Doctor Raoul]

The "Monty Python Defense"...

[dr_who_2]

The liner should have rammed them. The tourists would have enjoyed that. Of course, going by the picture on Fox news, someone with a grenade and a good pitching arm could have dispatched them in no time.

[Sybeck1]

Seems a little to tall to be easily boarded to me.

[FairOpinion]

"someone with a grenade and a good pitching arm could have dispatched them in no time."


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I just read in another article they were INFLATABLE boats -- someone should have thrown some sharp knives. (there were no weapons on board the cruise ship)

"The British news agency Press Association said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached the liner."




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_af/pirate_attack


Also, it seems like the Captain had his wits about him and did try to run them down:

"There were at least three rocket-propelled grenades that hit the ship, one in a state room," Laird wrote. "We had no idea that this ship could move as fast as it did and (the captain) did his best to run down the pirates."

[dr_who_2]

I think a lot of those boats have a dock either in the rear or in the middle, but those pirates probably weren't too bright or very prepared.

[jimbo123]

"Pirates" = Muslim Al Qaeda Terrorists seeking 150 American civilian hostages

[Timm]

I read a book a couple of years ago on international piracy, _Dangerous Waters_. The book focused largely on the South China Seah, and the Molacca Strait. There is a very serious problem with shipping security in those waters, not only because the waters are heavily traveled but because the shipping is itself very close to poor and lawless land.

Somalia is poor and lawless, to be sure, but this ship was one hundred miles from shore. So, this attack wasn't a matter of a few barefoot fishermen motoring out in a rubber raft hoping to score some loot from a boat's safe. No impoverished Somali motors out in a small open boat a hundred miles from the African coast, with AK's and RPG launchers, on the chance that some fat ship might pass by. This was an attack well-planned in advance, against a target the pirates knew would be passing by this spot.

Given the planning of this assault, I'm not at all sure the motive was simply "theft", as a cruise line official put it on a television news report. It is possible that an extremely brutal and protracted version of the terrorist attacks that have shocked the world over the past several years was narrowly avoided today.

[FairOpinion]

You are quite possibly right.

People have forgotten the Achille Lauro.

And the way terrorists blow up planes, they will be happy to blow up ships.

[jimbo123]

It was probably a test run for a larger operation against another tourist cruise ship.

Notice how the liberal media is frantically trying to spin the story away from a potential Achille Lauro situation and neglecting to report that the "pirates" were muslims.

Those "pirates" knew there were 150 Americans on that ship.

[SmoothTalker]

Like many who like Cruise Ships, these pirates were just in it for the booty.

[jimbo123]

Exactly. This was an Al Qaeda operation and they knew there were 150 Americans on that cruise ship.