Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

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."

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

:mad:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

:mad: :mad:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Looks like the E-dockers :eek: :evilb:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

cool, a 3rd new thread about the same thing :rolleyes:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Might be WellAdjusted's new 6 seater MTI.... oh wait... only 5 passengers :evilb: :evilb:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

looks like the guys you build motors for.... :rolleyes: :eek:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Get paid with 5s and singles :eek: :eek: :chimp: :chimp:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

and your motors got out ran by a cruise ship... :eek: :drink:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

They had the wrong prop on for pirating :evilb: :evilb:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

looks like an activator..... the real slim shady....

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

I would at least popped off a couple rounds with a flare gun just for a little excitement.

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Will the real Shady please stand up
& put one of those fingers on each hand up....

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

International waters?

Four of those, one on each side should take care of those azzholes...

http://users.rcn.com/sitzkrieg/war/gatlinggun.wmv

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

:eek: :eek: Friggin' gun looks like it's firing a laser beam :evilb: Simply awesome :D

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

I gotta get me one of those!!! :cool:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

I Beat If They Waved The Stick They Had More, They Could Of Gotten The Liner To Stop And Had Over All Its Goods! At Least They Stopped Rowing So The Gun Man Could Shoot!No Flair Guns?They Work Good In The Movies,The Crew Of The Liner Could Of Sunk That Pirate RowBoat With One Shot! :d

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Yeah....but this thread has pictures so it is better. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D :D :D

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Those arnt Somalies there New Orleans refugees displaced .


The guy with the Sefer could of stopped the boat with his special powers :D

Stratfor Analysis
 

Troubled Waters Ahead for Cruise Ships?

Well-armed assailants attacked the cruise ship Seabourn Spirit as it sailed in pirate-infested waters 100 miles off the coast of Somalia on Nov. 5. Although the crew's evasive action prevented the attackers from boarding the ship, the incident serves as a reminder of the notorious attacks against cruise liners in the 1980s -- and raises the possibility that tourist ships once again are at risk.

At the time of the attack, the 440-foot Spirit, owned by the Miami-based Seabourn Cruises and registered in the Bahamas, was on a 16-day cruise from Egypt to Mombassa, Kenya, with about 150 U.S., British and Australian tourists on board. The attackers, who approached the ship in two 25-foot inflatable speedboats, fired automatic weapons and at least two rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at the ship. The crew quickly initiated emergency procedures, gathered the passengers in a lounge, changed course and increased speed. After successfully evading the attackers, the ship was diverted to the Seychelles, where U.S. Navy personnel removed one RPG rocket motor. None of the passengers was injured, although one crewmember received slight shrapnel wounds.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported in October that 23 pirate attacks had occurred off the Somali coast since March, a dramatic increase over 2004, when only two attacks were reported. According to the IMB, pirates operating in the area -- most commonly Somali militiamen -- frequently attack cargo ships in an effort to hold the ship for ransom. Because of this, the IMB recommended in June that ships sailing the waters remain at least 50 miles off shore -- although its location did not prevent the attack against the Spirit.

In one recent incident off the Somali coast, pirates seized the U.N.-chartered merchant ship MV Semlow in late June as it carried food aid to Somalia. The pirates, who demanded a $500,000 ransom, held the 10 crewmembers hostage for more than 100 days before releasing them unharmed. During the course of the hijacking, the pirates used the MV Semlow to attack another ship in the area. As a result of the incident, the U.N. temporarily suspended food shipments to Somalia.

Attacks against cruise ships, however, have been extremely rare since the infamous hijackings of the 1980s. In October 1985, hijackers attacked the Italian liner Achille Lauro, killing wheelchair-bound U.S. citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Three years later, in July 1988, nine people died during the attack against the Greek liner City of Poros. The Palestinian paramilitary leader Abu Nidal masterminded both attacks.

It is unclear at this point whether the Nov. 5 attack was the work of pirates or terrorists, although it seems a stretch to suggest the crew outmaneuvered a serious terrorist cell -- unless the cell was staging a practice run for a future attack. Because conditions in Somalia and the Horn of Africa region are conducive to terrorist operations, the possibility of al Qaeda or some other group seizing a ship full of hostages must be further examined. Certainly, the Aug. 10 arrest in Turkey of suspected al Qaeda member Luia Sakra -- on charges of planning attacks against Israeli cruise ships -- raises the possibility that jihadists are setting their sights on cruise liners.

Meanwhile, however, modern piracy is becoming a serious threat to commerce and navigation in many parts of the world. Although cruise liners generally do not carry cargo, pirates certainly would be tempted by the cash and jewelry on board -- or by the prospect of holding hundreds of Westerners hostage for a lucrative ransom. If pirates were the perpetrators, then, the Spirit might have been attacked by a group drifting in the sea-lanes, waiting to attack the first ship that came along. On the other hand, a cruise ship's course and itinerary are not difficult to obtain, suggesting the attackers could have had advance knowledge of the ship's course -- and thus planned an attack against the specific ship.

Because cargo vessels in the area are taking precautions against pirate attacks, such as arming crews, pirates could begin to target softer vessels such as cruise ships. The Achille Lauro attack -- carried out by less than 15 hijackers -- proved that a small number of attackers can seize a cruise ship even if they are outnumbered by the passengers and crew.

Since the Achille Lauro hijacking, Western governments have developed procedures for dealing with hostage situations on cruise ships, but such operations are complex and dangerous for the hostages. In addition, hostage rescue teams (HRTs) trained to respond to situations on cruise ships might not be readily available where the ship is seized. In the case of an attack intended to kill tourists, rather than take hostages, it is unlikely that an HRT could react in time.

At the very least, the Seabourn Spirit incident serves as a warning that cruise ships could be venturing into troubled waters.

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

It is unclear at this point whether the Nov. 5 attack was the work of pirates or terrorists..........


Is there much of a difference? :D :D

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

The gatling gun is awsome!! Remember, those guns fire one tracer round for every five bullets. What looks like a stream of tracers is really five times that amount in bullets.

When the AC-130 gunship fires their guns they can put one bullet in every square foot of a football field. There is no escape.

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

thats some serious whoop azz......!!!

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

this is what the crew used...
http://www.atcsd.com/lrad.html

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Nice beak Reggie designed on the ship :D

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

The liner used a new sound weapon which wasn't mentioned in the article.

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

And when the guns are fired the ship moves at least 10-20 yards starboard. Some serious recoil. :evilb: :evilb: :evilb:

Re: Cruise ship attacked by pirates (with pics)
 

Very interesting...

"As a method for safely addressing the difficult missions of waterside force protection against small boats, crowd control, area denial of personnel, clearing buildings and visit board search and seizure operations, LRAD puts distance between a potential threat and our troops to save lives on both sides of the device."