What happens if a cruise ship is attacked by pirates?
Table Of Content
A speed boat had appeared at the stern and several armed men were preparing to board the cruise ship, they said. Several passengers were desperately grabbing deck chairs and tables and hurling them down at the men trying to board the ship. The captain was relaxed as he enjoyed a drink at the bar of the MSC Melody cruise ship, chatting on Saturday afternoon with two South African passengers. The women asked him if the bands of marauding pirates posed a problem for the cruise. After all, the ship was far -- 1,000 sea miles -- away from the Somali coast as it made its course across the Indian Ocean, a few hundred miles south of the Seychelles, on a 22-day cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy.
Telegraph Travel river and ocean cruises
To find a complete list of areas to avoid, check with the consulate offices or websites of countries to which you're interested in traveling, or visit the ICC (International Crime Service) website. It's filled with weekly piracy reports, Maritime Bureau information and more. Most of them have had serious defense training, and usually some of that comes from military experience.
DAILY NEWSLETTER
"He apologized for alarming passengers. However, the threat, he said, was real and the ship must be prepared for a pirate attack," shew rote. In the case of the MSC Melody, the delay between the alarm and active defense was too short for pirates to be able to board the ship. Nevertheless, the photos of shattered windows in several cabins show that frustrated pirates firing around like madmen could easily have caused injuries or deaths.
Four MSC Ships Will Cruise from North America next Summer
The liner, which had its maiden voyage in 1989, can carry 208 guests. Some good news came late Monday night, too, via the Spanish military. The frigate Numancia has detained nine suspected pirates who may have been involved in the attack on the MSC Melody. After being detained, the men were turned over to the authorities in the Seychelles because the attack took place in that country's waters. Without hesitation, passengers began to grab whatever they could find around them. "We immediately began throwing tables and deck chairs at the rope," said Tayler.
Our crack team of pirates work night and day - well, mainly in the day as we drink rum at night - finding deals. Among all the pirate ships on Saturday, you’ll also see boats captained by the Tampa Police Department. “On the announcement of the code word Safe Haven over the [ship’s loudspeakers],” she explains, “passengers are instructed to move away from the windows and outside areas of the cruise ship to head towards the middle of the ship. The 440-foot-long, 10,000-ton cruise ship, which is registered in the Bahamas, sustained minor damage, the cruise company said.
The attackers never got close enough to board the Spirit, but one member of the 161-person crew was injured by shrapnel, said Debrah Natansohn, president of the cruise line. By signing up for our newsletter, you will regularly receive our best holiday deals and travel information. Cruise through the countless islands and countries with each cruise offering a unique experience.
Press Association, the British news agency, said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached the liner. CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports that while the ship's captain took evasive maneuvers, the passengers were ushered below deck to the ship's dining room. This is a tricky question to answer as all inclusive can mean different things on different cruises! By default, all cruises are full board -- this means all of your meals onboard, breakfast, lunch and dinner, are included so you won’t be stranded in the middle of the ocean with a rumbling tummy if you run out of money on your trip.
Cruise deals - Explore the Sevens Seas with HolidayPirates
Many left behind their mobile phones, purses and even their shoes as they dashed to safety, he said. Actually being approached by pirates requires a whole other range of tactics. Compared to the sheer quantity of cruise and commercial ships moving through this area -- and based on the fact that incidents impacting cargo vessels and oil tankers are clearly more common -- these six incidents do not make as big of a splash. Two armed boats approached the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the coast of Somalia and fired as the boats' occupants attempted to get onboard, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. In an earlier video, the cruise passenger, who manages the TikTok account Horatio Hedgehog, revealed a letter signed by the captain informing passengers about a pirate drill the following day as the ship was due to enter the famous canal. A video recording of an announcement on the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner explaining the protocol in the event of a pirate attack as the ship sails through the Suez Canal has gone viral, garnering over 4 million views.
Cruise Ship Goes Dark for 10 Nights to Avoid Pirate Attack - The Points Guy
Cruise Ship Goes Dark for 10 Nights to Avoid Pirate Attack.
Posted: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]
List of ships captured or attacked off the Somali coast
In more than a decade, there have been only six reported incidents of pirates attempting to attack cruise ships, and the most recent was more than four years ago already. In homeport cities, such events can often cause traffic congestion and other logistical concerns that may impact cruises. The day after the pirate festival in Tampa, the Miami Marathon will be impacting three Carnival ships and other vessels at PortMiami on a very busy cruise travel day. The January 27 sailing of Carnival Paradise is a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise, with visits to Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico, with two days at sea for guests to enjoy everything the 71,925-gross-ton, Fantasy-class ship offers.
Pinto opened the safe and handed pistols to the security guards on board. He then called on the helmsman to steer the ship on a zig-zag course to fend off the pirates by creating large waves. The security guards, who by then had arrived at the ship's stern, fired two warning shots into the air. Larger cruise ships have a high freeboard – the distance between the waterline and open decks – that makes boarding difficult for pirates using grappling hooks to climb from a moving boat. The fact remains that while yachts have been kidnapped and cargo vessels have been hijacked for ransom, there has never been a successful pirate attack on a cruise ship. Passengers on board P&O cruise ship Aurora, travelling on its annual world cruise earlier this year, were summoned to a briefing from the captain to be told what to do in case of a pirate attack.
The caller allegedly said that cruise ships were a new target for pirates. "The pirates appear to feel downright incited by the war ships and the efforts being made against them," Vago says. It is just a matter of time before the next attack happens, he says.
Bright spotlights are used for lookouts on dark nights and to help ship officials spot approaching boats. All of this occurs even when pirates are not sighted, and passengers are rarely, if ever, aware of these tactics, although many of those who have sailed through the Gulf of Aden attest to the use of minimal lighting. According to eyewitnesses, two passengers came screaming into the bar and gesticulated wildly as they addressed the captain.
The statements of MSC Cruises chief Vago illustrate how poorly prepared cruise ships have been up to now in dealing with the threat of pirate attacks. "Up until now, we have given more consideration to fish specialities or fine wines than attacks on the high seas," the Italian cruise executive says. The company says it has had security personnel on its ships for the past 25 years, but "because of legal provisions," they are required to keep their weapons in a safe. The captain is only permitted to distribute the guns after an alarm has been given. When it comes to piracy, ships are prepared for defense in a number of ways.
Comments
Post a Comment