Pirates fire at cruise ship near Somalia [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

Source: LA Times

Pirates in a small skiff today (Sunday, Nov. 30) fired rifle shots at a cruise ship carrying 684 passengers in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen. No one was hurt, but the Nautica was forced to take evasive action, revving up past 20 knots, its normal top speed, said Tim Rubacky, spokesman for the vessel’s operator, luxury line Oceania Cruises.

In this situation, “you pour on all the power you’ve got,” Rubacky said in a telephone interview.

The daylight encounter points to the growing boldness of pirates off Somalia’s coast. On Friday pirates seized a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden. The incident also poses a dilemma for cruise lines and passengers because the gulf is the key gateway between the Mediterranean and Asia. Oceania was evaluating the situation, Rubacky said, but had not ruled out using the waterway in the future.

After pirates off the Somali coast in 2005 fired on another cruise ship, the Seabourn Spirit, injuring a crew member, cruise lines adopted more stringent anti-piracy measures.

The incident Sunday began at 9:28 a.m. local time as the Nautica, on a 32-day voyage, sailed through the Gulf of Aden on its way from Luxor, Egypt, to Oman, Rubacky said.


Read more: http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/pirates-fire-at-crui-3413/