Cruise Ship Has Brush With Somali Pirates In Indian Ocean

A cruise ship carrying 350 people was nearly attacked by Somali pirates this week off the coast of Tanzania, according to The Guardian.

Saga cruise line's Spirit of Adventure, heading from Madagascar, was 100 miles off the shore of Zanzibar when the brush with pirates occurred.

The kicker? Guests had just been seated for a black-tie dinner when, one passenger explained to the UK's Daily Mail, they were told "to keep our heads down in case they shot [the pirates] shot through the windows." It seems ship's captain had previously tried to speed up and evade the pirates to no avail.

When the all-clear signal was given after a little over 45 minutes later, guests returned to their formal meal, but not before giving the captain a standing ovation and a round of "For he's a jolly good fellow."

The ship started its two-week journey in Mauritius on New Year's Day and is one of the only cruise lines still operating in the Indian Ocean, according to MSNBC.

Comments

[shadenelkhatib]

12:51 AM on 01/19/2011

If Johnny depp was the pirate I would have loved it....but otherwise....don't think so!

[Bike Commuter]

07:45 PM on 01/18/2011

Looks like I see the same arguments that I always see on these stories, especially the ones claiming that the pirates are just "protecting Somali waters" that have been overfished and polluted by outsiders.
 
I have no doubt that the fishing and polluting happened. However, at this point the argument falls flat. First, the area around Somalia is so highly poIiced right now that iIIicit dumping or fishing would be quite difficult to get away with. Second, there is no way that the current pirate activity can be claimed to be about "protecting" Somali waters.
 
I am looking at a map of ships that are currently held by Somali pirates. Of 29 ships currently held, not one was taken in Somali waters. Many were taken as far as 1000 miles away from Somalia. Some were taken in what is clearly the costal waters of other countries, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and others. If there was ever a semi-Iegitimate reason for the pirate activity it is completely negated by the fact that they are travelling into the sovereign waters of other countries.
 
Even the cruise ship from this article was far from Somalia. The articles clearly indicate that the ship was only 100 miles out of the Tanzania port it had just left. That means it couldn't have been anywhere close to Somali waters. Some below want to argue the cruise ship was "rubbing salt" by sailing off the Somali coast. That is clearly not the case.
 
There is no defense for the piracy. Even if you contend that there was once a defense for it, there can be no defense now.

[MsNancyMitford]

12:27 AM on 01/18/2011

Dismayed beyond words. Had quite seriously planned August in Tanzania and a trip over water to Mad.

When will this mattress be stopped?

[MaxHeadroom]

01:52 PM on 01/15/2011

It amazes me that ships cannot have armed security forces that can handle these silly pirates and their rag tag boats and techniques.

It would not be difficult to do......

[GraphicMatt]

12:31 PM on 01/14/2011

Some of the posts here are hysterical. As if it's the rich folk's fault that their ship was approached by the pirates. Damn rich people spending their money on a vacation had it coming to them because the waters off of Somalia have been polluted and overfished. The decadence of them. The hubris to spend their money how they see fit.

[si8bqm]

01:29 PM on 01/14/2011

I have not seen one hysterical post other than those advocating carpet bombing. There are people here who have done some reading and tried to understand what is going on. No-one here has condoned piracy.

[GraphicMatt]

01:50 PM on 01/14/2011

I didn't say anyone was condoning piracy, however there are some that seem to believe the cruise ship had it coming to them.

"And to rub salt in the wounds, luxurious cruise ships sail along their shore."

Lines like that are pretty funny to me and there are plenty of others painting it like that. You think the Somali pirates said to themselves "damn cruise ship rubbing salt in our wounds, let's go attack them"? No, they saw an opportunity to overtake the ship and ransom it and it's crew and passengers. You think the warlords care about how polluted or overfished their seas are? They are a violent people, have been for years and years. They kill their own people like they were nothing. This is tragic, but to put all the blame on the west is ridiculous. I understand what is happening there and the only ones I feel sympathy for are those being tormented by the Islamic extremists and the power hungry warlords. These pirates can all rot at the bottom of the ocean as far as I am concerned. It's too bad we can't send in more SEAL sniper teams to pick them off one by one.

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

11:07 AM on 01/14/2011

"...Consider that about 30 ships form the international military presence off Somalia, but as many as 60 ships are required to secure transits through the Gulf of Aden alone. Furthermore 30 ships on station means an additional 60 ships in various stages of preparation or recovery; 60 ships on station would require a further 120 ships. Considering the cost of Navy ships, crews, and supporting infrastructure you can easily see why an increase in ships is not going to happen...."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-isenberg/pscs-at-sea-the-reasons-t_b_805015.html

Why is the world wasting millions of dollars a day trying to stop a band of wild, marauding thugs? Over 100 navy ships? Why don't they just blast these animals to pieces?

[MsNancyMitford]

12:29 AM on 01/18/2011

Skuttle them, one and all. Well, not all, leave one to tell the tale.

[Estrogenx]

04:45 AM on 01/18/2011

I worked on one of these ships last year transiting this very area, and we were in a convey. Our upper and outer decks were closed to our rich guests, and we had 5 Israeli Mossad soldiers onboard for the transit, as well as a sonic canon installed on the back deck to blow out the eardrums of anyone trying to overtake us. I was instructed to get guests down in the middle of the ship as the pirates can fire RPGs. I wouldn't think they are predictable, or remotely intelligent, by the sounds of the provisions we had to take. It was nerve-wracking.

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

09:00 AM on 01/14/2011

...three members of the pirate gang were arrested on board their slow-moving "mother ship" loaded with drums of fuel, food, water and medicine for the long journey from Somalia.

Arrested last December all 11 are due to go on trial this month in Victoria, capital of Seychelles, the popular holiday destination that has become the unexpected front line in the fight against piracy. Armed pirates have reached 1,000 miles out into the Indian Ocean, pushed out by navies patrolling in the Gulf of Aden.

Despite the efforts of the U.S. and EU navies, Somali pirates have stepped up their activity and are reaching far out into the Indian Ocean. This week Somali pirates hijacked a ship more than 1,100 miles from their bases -- closer to India than Africa, according to the EU naval force.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/somali-pirates-threaten-f_n_515183.html

[si8bqm]

10:29 AM on 01/14/2011

"Despite the efforts of the navies"--gunboat diplomacy. How about a real attempt at understanding their economy and what drove them to piracy ? You are not even scratching the surface and you think you know the answers. Your name says it all. Compare all this to the history of the Knights of St.John in Malta or the Elizabethan Brits in the Caribbean--piracy as an art form.
The Texan textbooks are sometimes not all that reliable.

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

10:39 AM on 01/14/2011

Cry me a river

Please take your pitiful attempts to justify criminal behavior on the high seas elsewhere.

I guess by your standards, then half of the world should be able to rob people becasue they are poor.


Give me a break.

[MsNancyMitford]

12:29 AM on 01/18/2011

I DON'T CARE why.
Hang them.

[Ishmael1]

08:53 AM on 01/14/2011

So what happens if the Somali pirates start building submarines?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bNAg1iVBps

[audadvnc]

04:55 PM on 01/14/2011

Or torpedoes? Or sea mines? What happens when they finally tire of letting their shorelines be abused for other people's gain?

[shadenelkhatib]

12:53 AM on 01/19/2011

We will make them walk the plank!

[sarapy]

07:52 AM on 01/14/2011

disneyland in the indian ocean. what a thrill. exhilarating. he almost came in his pants (but that's impossible after his prostate was removed thirty years ago). but there they were, all dressed in their black ties, drinking champagne, taking their inexiums, chasing down their viagras, getting ready for a mundane evening. tomorrow, they will be attacked by a shark in the swimming pool and the pool boy in a g-string will save the day by riding it back to its cage. can't wait till they let "claude" (the caiman) loose in the staircase !

[GraphicMatt]

11:34 AM on 01/14/2011

Wow, that sounds like one crazy cruise liner.

[David Rozgonyi]

10:50 PM on 01/15/2011

ROFL! Oh yeah, what a rofl.... :)

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

06:45 AM on 01/14/2011

Somalian deregulation in action: less government, more free markets and more pirates.

[blurredmolly]

07:40 AM on 01/14/2011

It has more to do with the Europeans poising their fishing grounds.

[si8bqm]

10:19 AM on 01/14/2011

thanx blurred. At last someone else whose homework has not been eaten by the dog. How people love to simplify everything with a dose of gunboat diplomacy. Vietnam and Iraq taught some people absoluteloy nothing F & F

[blurredmolly]

07:47 AM on 01/14/2011

"poisoning"

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

08:48 AM on 01/14/2011

Now why would they want to poison the water?

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

10:52 AM on 01/14/2011

So i guess you somalia experts can't answer why americans would poison their ocean water? Come on...why are you avoiding the question.

[Robert Yager]

05:23 AM on 01/14/2011

A fast dispersing nerve agent sprayed over Somalia would be a good idea, save a little bit for Haiti and its win/win

[blurredmolly]

07:45 AM on 01/14/2011

Man, I suggested the same thing , except over the annual republican retreat.

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

08:48 AM on 01/14/2011

republicans are like cocroaches, you just can't get rid of them.

[realitytrumpsbull]

04:27 AM on 01/14/2011

I think eventually there'll be so many warships off the coast of Somalia, and helicopters flying through the air, that a pirate boat won't even think about trying to interfere with shipping, anymore.

[NCOak]

01:50 AM on 01/14/2011

thank god the affluent westerners were allowed to carry on their gaudy display of wealth and privilege in the midst of such desperate savagery! anything less would be uncivilized.

for he's a jolly good fellow! jolly good!

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

08:50 AM on 01/14/2011

The cruise ships are like 10 miles from the coast...sometimes 50 miles...those guys must have great eyesight

[ArchieBunkerTypicalRepub]

08:54 AM on 01/14/2011

humm...the article says the ship was 100 miles off the coast

[si8bqm]

12:01 AM on 01/14/2011

From Wikipaedia:-The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) issued a report in 2005 stating that, between 2003–2004, Somalia lost about $100 million dollars in revenue due to illegal tuna and shrimp fishing in the country's exclusive economic zone by foreign trawlers.
Please read the articles on Somalia and Somali Piracy--They are really interesting.
Conquered by the Brits in the 1920s by aerial bombing etc. Just tons of new facts.

[VoteThemAllOut]

12:41 AM on 01/14/2011

Not sure I understand the comment - are you trying to justify the pirates?

[si8bqm]

01:03 AM on 01/14/2011

No, I'm not trying to justify anyone. I am merely suggesting that we do not run around waving metaphorical banners about things we have not investigated. There are already far too many TPers doing just that. Mexicans fleeing poverty have something in common with the Irish fleeing the potato famine. Somali pirates have a Bonnie and Clyde argument-they are in a deep depression that they did not cause. Piracy has to be replaced with something better, for us and for them. They used to have something better and it behooves us to discover what it was and why they lost it.

[jbarelli]

01:15 AM on 01/14/2011

Was somebody fishing from the cruise ship? Maybe the cargo vessels that have been captured by Somali pirates were dragging shrimp nets.

Talking about an "Exclusive Economic Zone" for Somalia is nonsense. Somalia is a Tea Party paradise. No law, government weak enough to be "drowned in a bathtub", and everyone armed to the teeth. (So much for that old saying "an armed society is a polite society".)

Perhaps the British would be kind enough to reconquer Somalia and give its people the chance for a decent life. Then Somalia would have an economy, and we could talk about "Exclusive Economic Zones".

[si8bqm]

10:08 AM on 01/14/2011

So glad you did your homework with Wiki before replying !!

[GraphicMatt]

11:49 AM on 01/14/2011

Don't forget them all being stoned out of their minds on that stuff they chew on.

[Ira Meyers]

11:31 PM on 01/13/2011

They were a bunch of Orange County Republicans and they were very peeved.