Cruise liner fends off pirate attack (Spirit)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/11/05/somalia.pirates/index.html

Cruise liner fends off pirate attack

By CNNRadio's Matt Cherry and Amanda Moyer

(CNN) -- A luxury cruise line will re-evaluate whether to offer future cruises off the coast of Somalia after pirates attempted to attack one of its ships early Saturday.

The modern-day pirates were in two small boats and carrying machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade when they attempted the attack on Seabourn Cruise Lines' "Spirit" about 5:35 a.m. local time Saturday, Deborah Natansohn, president of the cruise line, told CNNRadio.

The ship was carrying 150 passengers and a crew of about 160.

The ship, she said, immediately instituted its emergency response system. "The occupants of those boats did not succeed in boarding the ship and eventually turned away ... our captain and crew did a terrific job taking responsive action."

Passenger Mike Rogers of Vancouver, Canada, said the pirates were shooting and sending rockets at the boat.

"The captain tried to run one of the boats over, but they were small boats, about 25 feet long," he told CNNRadio affiliate CKNW in Vancouver.

"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."

The captain, however, did not hit the alarm button to alert passengers of the emergency, Rogers said.

"He announced it over the speakers, because he was scared people would run up on deck, and he didn't want people on deck because they would have been shot."

The cruise ship eventually outran the pirates' boats, Natansohn said. One person suffered minor injuries, she said, but did not elaborate.

"There's some minor damage done to the ship," Rogers said. "There's no water right now, for instance, in some places, and I believe one of the grenades actually went off in one of the cabins, but everyone on board is fine."

The boat is now en route to the Seychelles Islands, Natansohn said.

On Thursday, the United Nations' World Food Programme warned that hijackings off the coast of Somalia were restricting the delivery of needed food assistance to the country.

"The southern Somali coastline is one of the most dangerous in the world," the WFP said on its Web site.

"In recent months, WFP's operations in Somalia have been sabotaged by the hijackings of two vessels carrying relief food. Ship owners are now demanding armed escorts to travel in these waters."

Natansohn said efforts were underway Saturday to locate the pirates. "We have notified U.S., Canadian and Australian authorities, because most of our passengers come from those three countries, as well as local authorities in Africa."

"Seabourn 'Spirit' has offered itineraries in that part of the world before, but we'll obviously be looking at the incident to determine what to do in the future," she said.

Rogers said, "we're always looking for adventure, but this is probably a little more than we would normally look for."

Thanks for the report.......how scarey!!!

I believe Norman is still on board.......hope the Spirit didn't receive too much damage. I can not imagine such a thing........

Martita

Longer and more info http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4409662.stm

"

One crew member was lightly injured in the early-morning incident in waters notorious for pirate attacks.

The ship was hit by bullets but not, apparently, by the rocket-propelled grenade.

It used an on-board loud acoustic bang to deter the gunmen."

"

"The passengers were mustered in a public room, told what was going on and reassured that we were fighting off the attack," he said.

"They were shocked but no passengers were injured whatsoever.

"We are extremely pleased that all the measures worked."

I'm shocked - It sounds like things could have been far worse, I hope all the passengers are ok.

Wow,

I'm so glad no one was hurt! Very scary stuff... :(

Host Dan

Sounds like the Captain and crew were on their toes. A couple boats coming by a ship in the early morning hours, could have been overlooked.

Three cheers for the Captain and crew.

I just e-mailed Norman......I'm sure the Radio/Comm. Officer however, has much more important business than to deliver my message......

If I do receive a reply I will post Norman's reply.

This is VERY scarey......I am very thankful that no Guests nor Staff were seriously injured.

MB

Does anybody know what Seabourn uses for security. I know Radisson is proud of their Gurkhas. But I found them lacking on my Mariner cruise. ie Never checked returning crew members, only light checking of pax and then only in some ports not all.

Don't know the exact circumstances why the ship was where it was, but from this article, it appears that the dangers were known.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4283396.stm

I have been reading Norms postings from the Spirit and looking at his gorgeous photos. Oddly enough his last thread was the "Last Post". Thankfully that really isnt true but it could have been if those pirates were successful.

I am so glad the Captain took whatever action he was able to in order to keep the passengers and crew safe. That must have been quite a scary experience.

I know that the Security Officer on board is ex Royal Navy, because my husband knows him from a "previous life".

How frightening this must have been for everyone on board, thank goodness they are all OK, it could have been so much worse and doesn't bear thinking about.

I am wondering now Norman's plans as the Spirit has cancelled the Port of Mombasa and will go directly to the Seycheles. He was so looking to his safari. But, under the circumstances, I know he will simply be happy for "plan B."

I e-mailed him directly......I will post his reply.

MB

I was thinking the same thing when reading Norm's "Last Post" thankfully the Pirates did not succeed and all the passengers are fine. Bravo to the crew!!!

More adventure then I'm sure any of them would want and kudos to the Captain for trying to run over one of the boats....... that's the kind of moxy I like to see.

Pat

Does anybody know the real top end of these ships. I was on the small Cunard Countess in the early 80s and she was like 17,000 tons. But I was talking to a ship's officer (British :) ) and he said it could do 30 knots and had done it a couple times when they had medical emergencies onboard.

when cruising through the Straits of Malacca, on the Spirit earlier this year, we decided to go on-deck late one evening, to our surprise we encountered a couple of Gurkhas. They were very friendly but also very professional, and responded that there were a number of them on-board while in this area of the world. Captain Pederson was also in charge, he is very professional and an extremely nice person.

Just checking the boards because I'd heard the news. Did want to let you know that Norman is quoted in Cruise Critic's own news report....

Really curious to see what affect this will have on cruises to places like Mombasa....

Suzi

I just received a reply from Norman. He is fine.......but was very scared.

And yes, the pirates were shooting at the Spirit. He said, "even had a rocket launcher!"

He was talking on the phone (probably with news reporters) and he said he would e-mail me the details later.

MB

My friend Marla Sanders, who many of you know, was scheduled to fly to Mombasa tomorrow to board Spirit for her next contract. She was already a bit nervous about flying to this part of the world. She just emailed me and she has emailed the Entertainment Director to find out what she is supposed to do as the Spirit will apparently be bypassing Mombasa.

So glad to hear that Norm is ok.........

Claudia

I just turned on Sky News to hear Norman giving a very descriptive account of the incident with a still photo that he took, it appeared to have a rocket launcher pointing right at him!!

I only tuned in half way through so did not hear it all, but from what he was saying I think everybody was more scared after when they realised what could have happened.

Well done Norm, keep the pictures coming.

In the e-mail that Norman sent a while ago he said, "I was on my computer at 5:30 this morning and I heard a LOUD CRACK......I went and looked out my window and there was a boat firing at the ship. I started taking pictures.......they even had a rocket launcher."........

How scarey is this?

MB

This is about ten minutes old from the wire reports:

Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from Hampstead Garden Suburb in north London was onboard the Seabourn Spirit 100 miles off Somalia in Africa when the attack from small boats took place.

 

The first many bleary-eyed passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen came on the PA system and said: "Stay inside, we`re under attack."

 

Terrified passengers, including 18 from Britain, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of the grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.

 

"I was awake doing some work when I heard what sounded like a crack from outside at 5.50am," said Mr Fisher.

 

"I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away.

 

"One of them clearly had a rifle. Later I realised that two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher.

 

"They were firing the rifle and then fired the rocket launcher twice. One of the rockets certainly hit the ship - it went through the side of the liner into a passenger`s suite. The couple were in there at the time so it was a bit of an unpleasant experience.

 

"Fortunately they weren`t hurt but you can just imagine what it would have been like if they had been standing up because obviously the cabin was very badly damaged.

 

"I only saw one boat, although the captain said there were two. At first I didn`t know what was going on, but when I saw the rocket launcher I started getting a bit scared."

 

Mr Fisher went on: "I suppose I had a little bit of adrenaline, particularly because I was trying to take photographs.

 

"Afterwards, particularly when I looked at the photos and realised the guy was loading the rocket launcher right in front of me, which I hadn`t seen with the naked eye, then you do feel a certain amount of tension about what might have happened."

 

Mr Fisher said the captain tried to ram one of the boats in an attempt to capsize it and stop them getting aboard.

 

"The captain didn`t sound the usual alarm because he was worried that people would run up on the deck thinking it was a fire, and that would be the worst place to be," Mr Fisher explained.

 

"Instead he made an announcement at five past six, saying: `Stay inside, stay inside, we are under attack`.

 

"Then he told us to go the restaurant in the middle of the ship and wait.

 

"The atmosphere in the restaurant was a little tense. People were pretty good and they weren`t panicking, but one or two were certainly looking nervous," Mr Fisher said.

 

"Most people were wearing dressing gowns and were quite bleary-eyed. Some sat on the floor for extra safety and others sat in the chairs. After a while they started bringing in water and coffee for us.

 

"The captain came in at about 6.30am and explained what was going on and said he was reasonably confident we had lost them. Of course he got a massive round of applause."

 

He added: "It was all a very surreal experience - not the kind of thing you expect on a cruise."

 

The Bahamas-registered ship was carrying 302 passengers and crew at the time, but there was only one casualty - a crew member suffered minor injuries from flying debris.

 

David Dingle, a spokesman for the Miami-based company Seabourn Cruises, owned by US cruise giant Carnival, claimed the rocket did not hit the ship but it was struck by small arms fire. The vessel escaped with only minor damage, he added.

 

The crew also used an on-board loud acoustic bang to repel the attackers who finally sped off without managing to board the liner. They did not return fire at the pirates.

 

The drama happened in an area notorious for pirate activity, leading to warnings to stay away from the coast where bandits board ships and demand ransoms.

 

Somalia has had no recognised government since 1991 and at least 23 hijackings or attempted raids have been tried off the East African country`s coast this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

 

The ship was en route to Mombasa in Kenya on a 16-day cruise out of Alexandria in Egypt.

 

The 10,000-ton liner offers the height of luxury, with huge suites, marble bathrooms and more than one crew member to each passenger on board. Most of the passengers are believed to be American.

 

Mr Dingle said: "The ship`s crew immediately initiated a trained response and as a result of protective and evasive measures taken the occupants of the small craft were unable to gain access to the ship."

 

He said that when the rocket propelled grenade-type weapon was fired at the ship, the crew and passengers remained calm.

 

"The passengers were somewhat surprised and shocked because it happened at 5.30am in the morning and they were woken," he explained.

 

"The passengers were mustered in a public room, told what was going on and reassured that we were fighting off the attack. They were shocked but no passengers were injured whatsoever.

 

"We are extremely pleased that all the measures worked.

The captain and crew did a fantastic job."

 

The ship has now cancelled its stop at Mombasa and will end the cruise in the Seychelles on Monday.

 

Mr Dingle said the company had no reason to believe it was a terrorist attack and all the evidence pointed to pirates.

 

Despite the incident the area is not the most notorious for pirate attacks, which are increasing being executed by ruthless organised and well resourced criminal gangs.

 

Indonesian waters are the most dangerous with 93 attacks in 2004. Overall though the IMB said incidents worldwide have decreased over the last few years but still 30 crew were murdered last year by pirates with many others beaten and held to ransom.

Cheers,

Norman - Not the Norman in the report! :)

I suppose this makes Norm a War correspondant

Don't know the exact circumstances why the ship was where it was, but from this article, it appears that the dangers were known.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4283396.stm

Unprecedented increase in piracy attacks off Somalia

http://www.icc-ccs.org/main/news.php?newsid=57

London, 20 October 2005

"The International Maritime Bureau has reported an unprecedented increase in the number of serious attacks off Somalia. Recently two vessels have been attacked around 90 miles off the coast over two consecutive days by pirates..."

Piracy increasing on Somali coast London, 15 August 2005

http://www.icc-ccs.org/main/news.php?newsid=53

It took me less than 2 minutes to get this information off of the internet. Looking at the dates which these reports were made, it makes you wonder why was the cruise ship in that area in the first place? Lines alter itineraries for many darn reasons, but this SURELY would have been a good reason to go elsewhere...don't you think???? :confused:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php

"Pirate ship"? Get real. It was a pair of Zodiacs. These "pirates" were smart - a dawn attack - most people still sleeping, use of rubber boats (may or may not be seen on the ship's radar) & relatively quiet from a distance. The purpose of the RPG was to cow the captain into stopping "for the safety of the passengers." This crew did the right thing. All they need now are a few "ma-dueces" strategically placed on the ship.

A coordinated attack by two boats (probably Zodiacs) with machine gun fire and RPGs. With a little luck and a lot of skill they could have taken out the Bridge as well as the comms pod. CNN just said 24 "pirate" attacks since March 20th 2005. The area is terrorist heaven. What on earth was that cruise ship doing anywhere near that area? The crew and passengeres were lucky the attackers weren't equipped with ma-dueces!!

From sky news:

The Seaburn Spirit

Ship Attacked By Pirates

Updated: 19:50, Saturday November 05, 2005

A British tourist has told how he watched pirates fire a rocket launcher at a luxury cruise liner.

Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from north London, was onboard the Seabourn Spirit 100 miles off Somalia when the attack took place.

The first many passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen said over the PA system: "Stay inside, we're under attack."

Terrified passengers, including 18 Britons, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of the grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.

Mr Fisher said: "I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away.

"One of them clearly had a rifle. Later I realised that two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher."

A Seabourn Cruises statement said: "As a result of protective and evasive measures taken, the occupants of the small boats were unable to gain access to the ship.

"All passengers and crew are safe and the ship is proceeding to the Seychelles."

The Bahamas-registered ship was carrying 302 passengers and crew at the time, but there was only one casualty - a crew member suffered minor injuries from flying debris.