Pirates attack luxury cruise ship [New details]

Scotland on Sunday ^ | November 6, 2005 | by WILLIAM LYONS

[RoadTest]

Yes it's been in the news now and then in the past few years that piracy is inreasing. They board freighters and tankers and fence the cargo and maybe the ship, too, I don't know.

[seadevil]

I know a few that would work cheap if geetin the same VIP treatment was part of the deal.

So do I... ;)

[hedgetrimmer]

You can often find the vicinity of ships by their call letters on the internet. If they are moving withing designated shipping lanes, you can find them.

[BIGLOOK]

"ONly a few weapons, held by 4-5 crew members - could have held off the whole raiding party."

Don't forget fire hoses, extremely effective in repelling boarders.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I'm not too good at math, but when I divide 19000 by 16, I get 1,187. Right?
Wrong? That's 1187 pounds per day.

---

The deception in the article is that this is typical. It's like the "Presidential Suite" at a hotel. Sure, once in a while, someone pays $5000 a night for it, but everyone lese is paying $200. You could safely assume that the AVERAGE coast per person, per day is around $500, maybe less.

I guess it makes the story more exciting that the passengers are "Grey Poupon" types, when in fact, they are the same economic demographic you find at a nice Westin or Marriott resort.

[bvw]

I'd think they had some trawler that they launched the rubber dinghies from.

[xarmydog]

My response would be to go to the bar,find some of the strongest liquor,make some molotov cocktails,then rain hellfire on them.Burn scars make great identifiers.

[Atlas Sneezed]

The ship had stopped at a Kenyan port (to see game, etc.), not Somali.

[mountn man]

A cruise ship should probably have a bar. Bars have bottles of alcohol. Send the pirates some cocktails. Molotov cocktails that is.
If the ship has some sort of infirmary, they probably have some sort of surgical tubing. Make launchers for the cocktails. Or fabricate crude bows and arrows. Inflatable boats don't like sharp thingies stuck in them.

Of course neither do pirates.

[mlc9852]

I would say in general Americans would know to avoid Muslim areas these days, especially France.

[mlc9852]

I bet you used to watch The A Team.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

You think the reason Americans aren't going to France is because of muslims?

[Cuttnhorse]

Find an atlas, put your finger on the Suez Canal, then go south to Mombasa...pretty hard not to cruise by Somolia.

[COBOL2Java]

were these actually self-interested pirates? Or were they Islamic terrorists operating out of boats?

That question's a little bit redundant, don't you think? It's kind of like asking "Is John Kerry a pompous ass or is he a US Senator?"

[mlc9852]

I really have no idea why people aren't going to France. Hadn't given it any thought, really.

[xarmydog]

Having been to mines and demolition school,there are weapons in the kitchen that if knowing what to mix together,would rain on their parade.Unfortunately I am not at liberty to dispense any recipes.A highly qualified ex commando hired for security would or should know how to.

[Cuttnhorse]

The goal was to kidnap and behead the 150 Americans on-board. These "pirates" were Al Qaeada, and the goal wasn't to steal jewelry.

Could you share where you got this information??

This area is known for this type of attack, mostly on container ships and large bulk carriers. They have often times boarded the ships, stolen ships stores and departed. And why wouldn't they try? Soft targets, no guns, very little risk.

Believe it or not, not every bad thing that happens in the world is al qaeada-sponsored. That would give them too much credit for having brains I'm convinced they don't have.

[mikrofon]

Captain Sven Erik Pedersen: "Pirates? Those aren't pirates..."

(dons his Viking headpiece)

"Now this -- THIS is a pirate!"

(proceeds to ram and sink the riff-raff)

[Cuttnhorse]

"It is a known fact that standard scruffy pirates have been attacking passing yachts (round the world sailboats) for years here..."

That's exactly right. There was an interesting account a few months ago about two 45-foot sailboats that were attacked by about three well-armed inflatables in the Gulf of Aden area. The sailboats, (to their credit and my amazement) were carring shotguns and actually killed a couple of the attackers and rammed and sunk one of the boats. The sailboats were damaged slightly by AK-47 rounds. They sent out a Mayday and a US crusier eventually sailed to the scene, but the would-be pirates were long gone. The big worry about these A-holes is that after stealing everything they want, they often kill everyone on board and sink the vessel to cover all evidence.

If I recall, there is a sight, "ICC Commercial Crime Services" that tracks this kind of event.

To spout off that al quaida is responsible for everything bad and stupid that happens in the world is giving them credit for brains they don't have.

[righttackle44]

"It is kinda difficult to imagine how -- exactly -- they planned to board ship."

My question exactly. Maybe they had Errol Flynn with them.