leighann

Crazy as it may sound, a cruise ship carrying more than 300 passengers fended off a pirate attack Saturday.  The Seabourn Spirit was traveling off the coast of Somalia on its way to Mombasa in Kenya when two speedboats closed in on the vessel and opened fire with machine-guns and a rocket-propelled grenade.  At 5:30am, passengers were awakened by gun shots hitting the side of the vessel.  The captain came on the speaker shortly thereafter to warn passengers and the crew of the attack and instructed them to stay low to the ground and away from the windows.

There was only one injury that took place, a crew member who was slightly injured by flying debris.  The remaining passengers were in shock, but ok.  It was hard for the crew to get rid of the so-called pirates, but they managed to get them to surrender.  The BBC website reported that the crew was able to fend off the attack by using an on-board loud acoustic bang, making the gunmen believe they were under fire.  The captain tried to hit the boats, but managed to simply outrun them. 

The Somali coast is known to be infested with pirates, who are becoming more and more brazen.  According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), at least 23 hijackings and attempted seizures have been recorded off Somalia’s coastline since mid-March.  Two days ago, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that such activity had hampered delivery of relief supplies to more than 500,000 people in the region.  Due to its impact on tourism, the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme (SAP) is planning to convene Monday to discuss this latest attack — the first on a cruise ship off the Somalia coast.  Somalia has been without a functioning government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Said Barre, and is now overrun by warlords.

It’s crazy to think that people are still worrying about pirates.  It seems like a fairy-tale or a movie.  I keep picturing Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean, but it seems to be a bigger deal than a gold-toothed, drunk pirate with a parrot on their shoulder.  Real-life pirates are a threat to people in this area and it seems as though the government there is having a hard time controlling the situation because of the warlords.  I’m glad the pirates were unable to come aboard the ship and no one was injured.  The captain did a good job of handling the attack.