Posted on 11/06/2005 7:39:59 AM PST by aculeus
OK how? They were a hundred miles offshore and Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa. Please answer the question, how would YOU get from Egypt to Kenya on a ship and not pass Somalia?
I think you're right. There's not that much on a cruise ship that would tempt pirates, except ransom of wealthy passengers (either cash, or freeing prisoners from Western custody), or the beheading of passengers for Al Q
I don't think passengers carry huge amounts of cash or jewelry these days
Personally, I wouldn't feel safe in that general area any time so I won't be going on a cruise there any time soon.
Well, all some enterprising cruise operator needs is a private bill granting an exemption from the machine-gun ban and letters of marque and reprisal against pirates operating in the Indian Ocean and contiguous seas, bays and gulfs.
That old Constitutiona provision about letters of marque and reprisal ought to good for something.
Inflatable boats against a cruise ship? A couple of shotguns would have drowned the lot.
Where the nearest countries patrol the area with warships.
Does this mean that when going on a cruise in certain areas of the world it is appropriate to ask what defensive measures the ship has? Is is reasonble to assume that protection against pirates is part of the expected "package"?
Finally, don't cruise ships, particularly the most exclusive kind, have the radar and sonar means to monitor when boats of any size are approaching?
As a captain, having the proper weapons on board, I would have aimed at disabling the boats and having them deal with paddling 100 miles home.
Naaaah. I would have sunk the SOB's and celebrated afterwards.
Probably. OTOH, the market for cruises where the ship needs to be armed with MG's and stuff might be unpredictable.
I somehow stumbled onto this piracy issue a little while back, can't remember why. But this comes up on sailing forums, some pretty harrowing stories to be found.
People have to be armed when they take to the seas, it's bad out there on the water.
Here's one link that came up when googling:
http://www.cruiserlog.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=652
FYI:
Piracy prone areas and warnings
S E Asia and the Indian Sub Continent
Bangladesh : Chittagong at berth and anchorage.
India : Chennai , Kandla
Indonesia : Anambas/Natuna Island, Balikpapan, Belawan, Dumai, Gaspar/Bar/Leplia Str, Jakarta (Tg.Priok), Pulau Laut, Vicinity of Bintan Island
Malacca straits : avoid anchoring along the Indonesian coast of the straits. Coast near Aceh is particularly risky for hijackings.
Singapore Straits
Africa and Red Sea
Gulf of Aden / Southern Red Sea
Somalian waters - eastern and northeastern coasts are high-risk areas for hijackings. Ships not making scheduled calls to ports in these areas should stay away from the coast.
West Africa : Abidjan , Conakry , Dakar , Douala , Freetown, Lagos , Tema, Warri
South and Central America and the Caribbean waters
Brazil – Rio Grande
Haiti – Port au Prince
Dominican republic - Rio Haina
Jamaica - Kingston
Peru – Callao
And had a damned fine captain. You gotta have confidence in a guy named Sven Eric...
"Two suicide bombers detonated their explosives-packed boat next to the U.S. warship(COLE) as it refueled in Aden harbor at Yemen's southern tip, killing 17 U.S. sailors and wounding 39. "
The odds of that are minuscule.
This cruise ship had already stopped at a few sandmaggot ports and I am sure its speed, course and itinerary were aboard those inflatables. Even sandmaggots can learn to use GPS.
"This ship was pretty far off shore from what I understand... how on Earth did these "pirates" find it? Were they just out joyriding and stumbled across it?"
~~~~~~~~~
That is answered in something that I just now found:
"Masters should bear in mind the possibility that attackers are monitoring ship-to-shore communications and using intercepted information to select their targets. Caution should, therefore, be exercised when transmitting information on cargo or valuables on board by radio in areas where attacks occur."
from a pdf file:
http://www.imo.org/includes/blast_bindoc.asp?doc_id=941&format=PDF
found at:
http://powerandmotoryacht.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=828
Yeah, it does. I'm sure it's seen as especially unfair that some people get to spend thousands on luxurious cruising, especially when that money is unfairly taken from the world's limited financial resources and could have been "distributed" to the poor. Not that it matters how many jobs are created by the demand for luxury, or that even the poor dream of luxury, I'm sure the people working in those jobs would be so much better off staying at home and just having the funds distributed to them by a bureaucracy. 'Course some people would get stuck actually *working* for the bureaucracy, but that's life, I guess.
Arrrrrgh. Hand over the booty or it's the plank fo ya.
The RPG on one of those little boats might have given them away though. If the cruise ship crew spotted it in time, that is...
The high seas are still ruled by Barbary Pirates, it seems!
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