Cruise line re-evaluating route following pirate attack

Yahoo ^ | 11-5-05 | (AFP)

[george76]

Seabourn Cruise Lines, whose luxury ship was attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, will re-evaluate whether to continue cruises off the coast of Somalia following the attack...

"We don't know of any other time where a cruise ship has been attacked by pirates," she told CNN.

"They generally tend to (attack) tankers and freighters that have very small number of crew on board.

"We do know, of course, that the Indian Ocean is an area that we have to be more alert, and we were traveling through the area in a high state of alert," ...

the pirates were armed with machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

"The captain tried to run one of the boats over, but they were small boats, about 25 feet (eight meters) long," he said.

"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."

[msnimje]

They should consider a few of these

[martin_fierro]

Seabourn Cruise Lines, whose luxury ship was attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, will re-evaluate whether to continue cruises off the coast of Somalia following the attack...

Gee, I dunno...

That Somalian coastline is so freakin' scenic, after all...

[grace522]

Were those "pirates" or "youths"? Any chance they were Muslim? Naaaah

[george76]

Good for most any pirate

[george76]

Religion of peace.

[Disambiguator]

the pirates were armed with machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

I don't know, could it be...Muslims?

[george76]

Getting Ready

[FairOpinion]

More info about the attack:



Pirates attack luxury liner off Somalia (attack repelled)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516472/posts

[MizSterious]

Andrea Doria redux? I don't think these were "pirates" in the sense we normally think, but terrorists hoping to get a big batch of wealthy tourists--for ransom or for slaughter.

[hedgetrimmer]

Why would any captain take a ship there for a pleasure cruise? Pirate attacks have been epidemic for at least 20 years now.

An epidemic of ship hijackings off the coast of lawless Somalia is choking the delivery of relief supplies to more than half-a-million people facing acute food shortages in the country's southern regions, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday.

At least 23 hijackings and attempted seizures have been recorded on the Somalia coastline since mid-March, according to the International Maritime Bureau. --

Piracy hampers aid delivery to Somalia

[garyhope]

Or maybe a couple of M-60's and some people trained and unafraid to use them.

[woofer]

Why would any captain take a ship there for a pleasure cruise?

Ah, young Hedgehopper. Like many others, you thought this was a "pleasure" cruise, when in reality, it was a "punishment" cruise gone horribly right.

Avast, me hardies! Prepare to repel boarders!

[MizSterious]

Ug, should have been "Achille Lauro redux"--apologies.

[SandRat]

Maybe it's time for the Cruise lines to put a "Raider" out there disguised as a Cruise Ship.

[Threepwood]

I read elsewhere that the ship didn't have to return fire. That indicates they have some sort of defensive capacity. For small boats, you could just use fire hoses to capsize them, I suppose.

I would prefer a C9 on a protected rail mount, or a barrage of penguin-class rockets, but it is cruise ship after all.

[mmercier]

I hope these cruise lines search every passenger to make sure they aere not armed before boarding.

Wouldn't want any nasty Americans hurting anyone.

Or being able to defend themselves.

They got lucky in this case.

[stumpy]

Nah, just mount a few "ma deuces" on the rails. That will keep them out of rpg range.

[george76]

[weegee]

"We don't know of any other time where a cruise ship has been attacked by pirates," she told CNN. "They generally tend to (attack) tankers and freighters that have very small number of crew on board.

I guess that is John Kerry's "tolerable" nuisance level of terrorism. Unfortunately as seen above, when you are dealing with outlaws, you have no reason for surprise when they strike other targets.