Pirates attack luxury cruise ship [New details]

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

[Travis McGee]

I have spoken to several Norwegian ship's officers on the open ocean. It's a strong national and family tradition to send some very strong bright boys to sea.

[yarddog]

I have no idea of the international laws but it would seem since the Achille Lauro incident that it would be prudent to have some type of military or police protection on board.

I would think maybe a few marines with M-14's and maybe one larger gun would be enough.

[Travis McGee]

This is not the same ship, but it's the same size and type, generally, and gives a good look at the pirates' target: those opennings in the transom which go into the galley and cleaning areas in most cases.

The pirates will attack straight up the wake, from dead astern, which is usually in a radar "shadow" or "baffle" behind the ship's superstructure. Come up fast, before the ship can react.

The pirates use a long pole to place a grapnel hook on that "balcony". The hook and pole also take up a rope ladder, which the strongest pirates immediately scale, while other pirates in the boats provide cover fire.

The first boarders then secure the area around the ladder top, and the rest come aboard. They then run to the bridge, shooting anybody who gets in their way. Once they control the bridge, they control the ship, and have 100s of European hostages to rob and plunder.

[Travis McGee]

Nice pic above to help understand the typical ship boarding pirate attack, on a ship of this size.

My guess is the crew got lucky and spotted the pirates early, and the captain took radical evasive movements, preventing the pirates from getting their grapnel hooks and ladders aboard.

[zeeba neighba]

The passengers should have just tossed over some Louis Vuitton handbags, etc., and been on their way.

[William Tell]

Travis McGee said: "The first boarders then secure the area around the ladder top, and the rest come aboard. "

Sounds right. And the defense would be two or three crewmen armed with M-16s somewhere in the back of that area, covered to withstand a grenade or two. They must see that nobody enters that area or climbs above it.

It's unfortunate that the outcome in this particular case was not the total destruction of the pirates. Somehow the attackers lost the element of surprise but otherwise they are up against what seems like a pretty soft target.

[yarddog]

I have never been on a ship or a large boat for that matter but was wondering if one of the Barret .50 cal. semi auto rifles would be useful for repelling pirates.

If those large cruise ships are steady, a good shot could make swiss cheese out of one of those boats and their crews at a good distance.

Also wonder what the legalities of having arms aboard a cruise ship in certain ports.

[jimbo123]

Terrorists may be behind cruise liner attack: Downer

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1499216.htm

Rocket-propelled grenades fired at ship

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/11/07/1131211971283.html?from=top5&oneclick=true

Unexploded Rocket Found on Attacked Cruise Ship, Downer Says


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000081&sid=aHZow6D3Xh08&refer=australia

[William Tell]

yarddog said: "... wondering if one of the Barret .50 cal. semi auto rifles would be useful for repelling pirates."

Based on the pictures I saw, I would want an AR-15 with a good supply of 30 round magazines. It appeared that the attackers were relatively exposed and relatively close. I would hope to be getting one-shot/one-kill with quick, aimed fire.

I think there is a class of body armor that could withstand AR-15 fire, but I would be surprised if these guys had it. If they did, then the .50 becomes more of an asset. It's probably going to go through the armor, through the pirate, and through the boat. But the magazine is probably six or seven rounds, so the hit rate has to be really good. An AR-15 is a handy weapon to fire. I have never fired a .50 but they weigh a great deal and aiming one over the railing of a ship might be quite a challenge.

Now if a person had a .50 caliber machine gun such as those once found on a B-17, that would be a different matter. With a thousand rounds in the belt and the ability to aim at the boat, the whole shebang is just going to get shredded.

Unlike boats, ships have the capacity to carry heavy weaponry and literally tons of ammunition. With present day naval security these boats would not have survived the attempt to approach a US Navy ship such as they did with the cruise ship. Any vulnerability to pirates is by choice of the cruise lines and not by necessity.

My wife and I were on a cruise ship docked in the river at Shanghai just a month after 9/11. There were small boats patrolling the waters around the ship to ward off any attackers and to watch for any underwater activity that could jeopardize the ship. I'm pretty sure they were prepared to do more than just make loud noises to scare off attackers.

[yarddog]

I was thinking more of a scenario where the ship would be defended by a group of military or police. I agree M-16's or AR-15's would be useful up close as would automatic shotguns.

I know in the days of sailing ships, merchantmen were armed against pirates, can't see any reason they still couldn't be.

Of course if they wanted to get really serious they could have machine guns, 40mm guns etc. I bet the guests on the ships would enjoy having the protection unlike what some might think.

[Travis McGee]

A 50 is terrific, if you're on a relatively steady platform like a ship. Plenty of whack, to go through one end of the pirate boat and out the other, including going through a couple bad guys AND the engine block.

[William Tell]

yarddog said: "I was thinking more of a scenario where the ship would be defended by a group of military or police. "

That's why it is such a shame that any of these pirates survived the attempt. From a practical standpoint, I don't think these ships are going to be carrying a security force. Unless they start choosing cruise directores who are also ex-military or hiring mercenaries from backward countries who are willing to double as cabin stewards.

I'm sure that 150 years ago there would have been no qualms about arming any member of the crew or passenger list who was willing to take up arms. These days it is difficult to imagine any corporation willing to do this just in order to save the lives of their crews and passengers. Better to try to fend off the lawyers suing them after the fact for failure to protect.

Just like the airlines, the cruise ship companies will all have to face the prospect of bankruptcy before doing the "non-liberal" thing. That is, keeping and bearing arms.

[William Tell]

Travis McGee said: "A 50 is terrific, if you're on a relatively steady platform like a ship. "

There is a saying, I think, that there is no such thing as "too much gun". Would it be practical to shoulder a .50 and rest the front stock on the ship railing to fire downward at the pirates? The trade-offs involving the heavier gun and more frequent re-loading buys one the greater impact of the round.

Though not directly applicable, I was thinking of the "stopping power" statistics that one reads for shootings involving handguns. A .357 or a .45 at center of mass is around 95%, I think. Perhaps a .380 is around 50%, which means you always want to fire at least three times if armed with the smaller caliber.

An M-16 would probably be somewhere in the high 90% range also. And a .50 perhaps 99.9%. The point being that a double-tap from the M-16 is competitive with the 0.50 when used against unarmored personnel.

I think that we all agree that the stopping power of "very loud noises" is highly over-rated by the cruise lines.

[Travis McGee]

.223 is not indicated for this mission. Wind blows it around at long range, worse, it will deflect off of almost anything, like the hull of a fiberglass boat. The .308 and up will punch through, turning cover for 223 into concealment for 308.

As always, the biggest problem is platform stability. It's VERY hard to shoot accurately from a boat. Even from a ship, you can't get a steady rest. It's up and down and side to side all the time. A semi auto Barret 50 would be perfect.

[Casloy]

Man that would be awesome.

And would certainly make me reconsider my distaste for cruises.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You betcha !

[jaydubya2]

"200-man crew managed to scare them off using a loud acoustic boom to imitate the sound of an explosion."

Huh???

[aculeus]

"200-man crew managed to scare them off using a loud acoustic boom to imitate the sound of an explosion."

Huh???

No it wasn't "Huh." It was "Boom!"

[Chickensoup]

I remember reading a book about 15 years ago about an author I think John McPhee, riding a tanker ship. He wrote about pirates trying to board, off the coast of South America...


Friends of mine who sailed the world in their sailing boat say that pirates are a big issue for small craft.

[jaydubya2]

What a bunch of sissies.