rex_b
Guest
As reported by the BBC
And CNN:
Pics here
cnn reports: 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."
And CNN:
Pics here
cnn reports: 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."
