Cruise passengers say pirates smiled

ap on Yahoo ^ | 11/07/05 | BISHR EL-TOUNI - ap

[NormsRevenge]

This photo provided by ABC News purports to show an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade on the deck of the cruise liner Seabourne Spirit after an attack by pirates. The Seabourn Spirit had been bound for Mombasa, Kenya, when it was attacked by pirates armed with grenade launchers and machine guns on Saturday Nov. 5, 2005 about 100 miles off Somalia's lawless coast. The ship escaped by shifting to high speed and changing course. (AP Photo/ABC News)

[NormsRevenge]

ABC News photo released on November 7, 2005, shows an unexploded rocket propelled grenade on the deck of the Seabourn Spirit, the passenger cruise ship attacked by pirates off the Somalian Coast on Saturday. Pirates in two small boats fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at the Seabourn Spirit with 151 passengers and more than 160 crew members on board about 160 km (100 miles) off the coast of Somalia on Saturday, but the vessel escaped with two bullet holes in the front and back. NO ARCHIVES MUST BE USED OR PUBLISHED BEFORE NOVEMBER 9, 2005 MANDATORY CREDIT REUTERS/ABC NEWS

[A CA Guy]

Cannibal Al Qaeda looking for dinner perhaps? That would explain the smiles.

[NormsRevenge]

Port workers paint under a window of Seabourn Spirit in Port Victoria, Seychelles archipleago, November 7, 2005. (George Thande/Reuters)

[Tench_Coxe]

Imagine the surprise of these pirates if, one day, one of these cruise ships suddenly sported some heavy firepower....

[NormsRevenge]

A Somali gunman guards a vessel from pirates. Passengers and crew of a cruise ship that came under fire by gunmen off the coast of Somalia described how they watched the drama unfold after the captain warned: 'Stay inside, we're under attack.'(AFP/File/Ali Musa)

[Syncro]

Others said the attack bore the hallmarks of pirates who have become increasingly active off Somalia, which has no navy

The pirate are their Navy! We have been attacked by a foreign country...

[apackof2]

I suppose its illegal to carry on a cruise ship?

[GregoTX]

but did they say "AAAAaaaaaargh" when they smiled?

[groanup]

I invite these bas^^rds to attack someone who is armed and ready for engagement. I don't think they would be grinning. But, of course, cowards shoot civilians. Ah, the religion of peace.

[Travis McGee]

RPG motor?

[Mr. Mojo]

.... the crew also used a sonic weapon, which blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam, as it tried to ward off the attack.

Wiped the smiles clean off their faces, I suspect.

[paul51]

It boggles my mind that these ships are sailing in some of the areas they do without defensive firearms. The fools get what they deserve.

[Ann Archy]

"Allah Aaaaaarrgh"!

[nevergore]

Yep...just the motor...

[Squantos]

PG7 series has a rocket motor that screws onto the PG. When fired ya see the fins deploy with a tube that has holes in it......

Most likely the "empty" rocket motor was left sticking out of the wall....let me find a pic for ya.....

[Mears]

Who the heck would want to cruise off the coast of Somalia anyway?

[The Red Zone]

OK, who's going to be the first to try to pick that puppy up.

[SteveMcKing]

1983 Beirut barracks bombing

"According to one Marine, the driver was smiling as he sped past him. The suicide bomber detonated his truck, which contained 12,000 pounds (about 5,400kg) of TNT."