Hijack a ship?

[DanJ]

What I want to know is if the ship can separate into the saucer section?

 

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

 

That's why the bridge on the Princess ships is perched on those stilts LOL.

[BonnieSte]

chair hogs would wipe them out, not worried

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Good one.

[CruiserBruce]

Oh come on, anyone who has ever watched Star Trek is aware that the engine room can control a ship. :D

 

Did we not learn anything from Speed 2 cruise control -MOVIE it would only take one man :p

 

What we really need to learn is there is a significant difference between Hollywood and the real world.

[bus man]

As a former crew member, I can tell you that the bridge of a ship is extremely secure. To gain access to the bridge, you must first pass through a heavy locked door accessible by key cards held by only several high ranking crew members and bridge officers. The door has several cameras focused on it as well as a camera on the door in lieu of a peephole. Through that door there are just a bunch of offices and the cabins of the senior officers. To get to the actual bridge there is a second door that even fewer people have access to.

 

All that to say that if the bridge were ever actually compromised, the controls can all be overridden by the engine control room as the ship can be controlled from there as well.

 

Seems like a handful compared to the door to cockpit.

 

I guess the question would be, what would be the terrorists' purpose? If they just wanted to cause a bloodbath for the sheer terror of it, they would have no need to gain control of the bridge or engine room. They could simply stand at the doors of the MDR or the theater and start shooting. By the time the Navy or the Coast Guard got there, you could have hundreds of dead passengers, even though the ship itself would still be under the captain's control.

 

That said, I'm not going to stay up late worrying about it, any more than I'm going to worry about my plane being hijacked. The odds of it happening on my flight or my cruise are about the same as winning the lottery.

[bus man]

A ferry would be a much easier target than a cruise ship, especially an internal ferry with no border security/passport or RCI booze-police.

 

And no chair-hogs to over-power, Dave ;)

 

JB :)

 

Anywhere that you can drive a small truck (packed with explosives) is at risk of a terror attack. This would include car ferries, tunnels, bridges, major highway interchanges, parking garages, and on and on and on. And while such attacks have indeed happened (e.g. World Trade Center, 1993; Oklahoma City), it's not like they're an everyday occurence. Maybe I'm naive, but I tend to credit our law enforcement agencies (FBI, Homeland Security, local police, etc.) for having blocked many potential terror attacks, as well as our military for having pre-emptively disrupted overseas terror networks.

[MissMichelle]

I know several years ago RCL actually did a "training exercise" where they had people try to take the ship (like a pirate would) and it was determined "impossible" to gain access to the ship. They were unable to ever "board" the ship from the water.

[navybankerteacher]

I remember after 9/11 how we heard everyday about some new terrorist threat. None of them happened.

 

The "shoe bomber" and the "underwear bomber" were intended to happen - only good fortune prevented two plainloads of people going down. The Mumbai shootings happened. The "belly bomb" happened in Saudi Arabia.

 

Nothing?

[navybankerteacher]

Don't underestimate the security aboard ships these days.

What we don't know is just fine but it isn't as though cruise lines have not prepared for many scenarios.

 

I hope they are generally better prepared for terrorist scenarios than the officers and crew of the Costa Concordia were for a grounding.

[chipmaster]

Sorry it seem pretty easy to me

 

1) Find sympathic southeastern pacific based crew members who smuggle the required weapons on board. After all anyone see them load that stuff in port, very easy if you get an in at dock

2) Few crew members, could be the lowest grunt on the ships, also likely the easiest to recruit

3) 5-10 trained additional follks as passengers

 

You don't need to secure the ship ( bridge, engine room, etc. ) you just need a team and hostages... and a secure place to hole up and believe me there are a lot of places one can hunker down on a ship. A captain would be in a difficult position if he knew he had 30-50 hostages including womem and children in harms way.

[dave_k63]

Remember Maersk Alabama?

That was when I first learned the engine room can run the ship. I never had any idea that could be done. I always thought only from the bridge. I also learned many ( most ?) Chief Engineers have Master's License.

 

I think virtually all the ships crew and officers are either Asian, European or Latin American. I are any from predominantly Muslim countries?

[LadyShiva]

I think virtually all the ships crew and officers are either Asian, European or Latin American. I are any from predominantly Muslim countries?

 

Oklahoma City bombing. Today's group of 5 white guys that were going to blow up a bridge... Let go of the bias. All it takes to be a bad person is an ethos that "other people" are the problem and should be killed.

 

At a recent meeting with the FBI, the presenter from the bomb squad had a map of all the groups (and their affiliations) being actively watched by them. The majority of the dots on the US area were white power groups (KKK, etc).

[CruiserBruce]

I think virtually all the ships crew and officers are either Asian, European or Latin American. I are any from predominantly Muslim countries?

 

Oklahoma City bombing. Today's group of 5 white guys that were going to blow up a bridge... Let go of the bias. All it takes to be a bad person is an ethos that "other people" are the problem and should be killed.

 

At a recent meeting with the FBI, the presenter from the bomb squad had a map of all the groups (and their affiliations) being actively watched by them. The majority of the dots on the US area were white power groups (KKK, etc).

 

Crew membership varies by cruise line.

[sail7seas]

I hope they are generally better prepared for terrorist scenarios than the officers and crew of the Costa Concordia were for a grounding.

 

 

 

There are 'crooked' doctors, bad lawyers, lousy accountants and that one was likely a terrible Captain.

 

No profession is totally free of idiots.

 

[Dayenu]

Of course now that to take over an airplane is almost impossible, they are looking for new ways for terror attacks. I hope those suitcase x-rays check luggage not just for smuggled booze.

[DanJ]

I think virtually all the ships crew and officers are either Asian, European or Latin American. I are any from predominantly Muslim countries?

 

I believe Indonesia is the largest Muslim population in the world, and also a large percentage of cruiseline employees. But I don't think Indonesia is a huge haven of Islamic Fundamentalist wackjobs.

 

What we really need to learn is there is a significant difference between Hollywood and the real world.

 

Well, gee, thanks for setting is straight on that. :rolleyes:

[styles27]

Of course now that to take over an airplane is almost impossible, they are looking for new ways for terror attacks. I hope those suitcase x-rays check luggage not just for smuggled booze.

 

I've decided to not read the OP's article because I'm leaving this Sunday on a cruise and I don't want to be worried about what I've read.

 

However, I can't say that I haven't thought about this.

 

Think about all the wine cruiseline's like HAL allow to be brought on.

 

Any terrorist could replace that wine with explosives and nobody would be the wiser.

 

We aren't allowed to carry containers with more than 3oz of liquids onto an airplane that only carries a couple of hundred people, however cruiselines allow hundreds of people to carry on an unrestricted amount of liquids onto cruiseships that carry thousands of people.

 

Seems like a pretty easy way to kill a few thousand people if the terrorists really wanted to.

 

Now I need to think about something else....:(

[LadyShiva]

I believe Indonesia is the largest Muslim population in the world, and also a large percentage of cruiseline employees. But I don't think Indonesia is a huge haven of Islamic Fundamentalist wackjobs.

 

Indonesia is predominantly Sunni, so... no.

 

There are very few (overall) Islamic "whackjobs." Americans (that are not in the security field) just seem to keep them front of mind...

[CruiserBruce]

Huh? Al Qaeda is mostly Sunni oriented. So I am missing your point here.

 

I agree the vast majority of Muslims are not "whackjobs".

[LadyShiva]

Yes, Al Qaeda is a perversion of Sunni. Just like Phelps is a perversion of Christianity.

 

However, Sunni does not have jihad as a Pillar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Pillars_of_Islam

[Steppy08]

Everyone is focusing on them hijacking the ship and taking over the bridge. To cause the most damage they would probably position a number of suicide bombers strategically to try and sink the ship with everyone on it. The Concordia proved this is still a possibility, and if it hadn't sunk in shallow water over 1,000 people would have died. There's your terrorist attack.

[LadyShiva]

Everyone is focusing on them hijacking the ship and taking over the bridge. To cause the most damage they would probably position a number of suicide bombers strategically to try and sink the ship with everyone on it. The Concordia proved this is still a possibility, and if it hadn't sunk in shallow water over 1,000 people would have died. There's your terrorist attack.

 

Orrrr... you could have a drunk guy wander in and lower the anchor while the ship is under full steam.

 

Which is more likely? One's actually occurred... so I'm going to go with the idiom, "There's no patch for human stupidity."

 

Alternatively, Wizard's First Rule.

[Pepperw23]

Everyone is focusing on them hijacking the ship and taking over the bridge. To cause the most damage they would probably position a number of suicide bombers strategically to try and sink the ship with everyone on it. The Concordia proved this is still a possibility, and if it hadn't sunk in shallow water over 1,000 people would have died. There's your terrorist attack.

 

They could, but the way I read the article, the plan/idea was to use hostages as leverage to have prisoners released.

[Pepperw23]

I've decided to not read the OP's article because I'm leaving this Sunday on a cruise and I don't want to be worried about what I've read.

 

However, I can't say that I haven't thought about this.

 

Think about all the wine cruiseline's like HAL allow to be brought on.

 

Any terrorist could replace that wine with explosives and nobody would be the wiser.

 

We aren't allowed to carry containers with more than 3oz of liquids onto an airplane that only carries a couple of hundred people, however cruiselines allow hundreds of people to carry on an unrestricted amount of liquids onto cruiseships that carry thousands of people.

 

Seems like a pretty easy way to kill a few thousand people if the terrorists really wanted to.

 

Now I need to think about something else....:(

 

Honestly? I would not give it another second of thought. If you do that they have won. Go enjoy your cruise, everything will be fine. Sure, be cautious of your surroundings, but beyond that, forget about it. :)

[Steppy08]

Orrrr... you could have a drunk guy wander in and lower the anchor while the ship is under full steam.

 

Which is more likely? One's actually occurred... so I'm going to go with the idiom, "There's no patch for human stupidity."

 

Alternatively, Wizard's First Rule.

 

I'm not saying it's likely, but if you had described the 9/11 plot to anyone prior to 9/11 they would have reacted the same way.

 

Stupidity will always wipe out more people than terrorists. I'm way more afraid of the idiots driving cars than I am to fly or be on a cruise ship.

[LadyShiva]

I'm not saying it's likely, but if you had described the 9/11 plot to anyone prior to 9/11 they would have reacted the same way.

 

Stupidity will always wipe out more people than terrorists. I'm way more afraid of the idiots driving cars than I am to fly or be on a cruise ship.

 

That's my point... we keep fearing "other people" who might do something so much that we lose focus on the basics of security.

 

For example, here in Denver, Zazi bought a large amount of hydrogen peroxide at a beauty supply store in the suburbs. THAT's what got him noticed... basic information of unusual activity, not the color of his skin. Granted, I can brag on the Denver FBI because they're so good... ;)