Pirates firing machine guns tried to board a U.S. Cruise Ship

[jsalcedo]

Why aren't cruise ships armed?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9932838/



Pirates open fire on cruise ship off Somalia
Vessel carrying Americans, Europeans changes course and speeds away


Updated: 3:45 p.m. ET Nov. 5, 2005
MIAMI - Pirates firing rocket-mounted grenades and machine guns tried to board a U.S.-owned cruise ship in the Indian Ocean Saturday but the vessel carrying more than 300 people escaped and no one was hurt, its owners said.

Men in two small boats approached the Seabourn Cruise Line ship Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast, fired on it and sought to board the 10,000-ton vessel in an apparent bid to rob the passengers and crew, cruise line spokesman Bruce Good said.

"The crew responded with a trained response that they do to keep people from getting on the ship. They managed to evade them, repel them and keep them off the ship," Good said.


The 161-member crew gathered the 151 passengers into a central lounge away from windows and decks during the attack, he said.

"There were some windows broken, nothing that affected seaworthiness," Good said. "The crew did an excellent job and those guys gave up. ... These guys didn't plan this too well."

Was enroute to Kenya
The cruise line's president, Deborah Natansohn, told CNN that the attackers used machine guns and rocket-mounted grenades.

Pirates are not uncommon off the Somali coast, but typically they target freighters that carry only a handful of crewmembers.

The Bahamian-registered Seabourn ship was on a 16-day cruise from Egypt to Mombasa, Kenya. It sailed on to the Seychelles Islands, where passengers were to disembark and fly to Mombasa, Good said.

Seabourn is headquartered in Miami and is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise group.

The Spirit's passengers included 48 Americans, 22 from the United Kingdom, 21 Canadians, 19 Germans, 19 Australians and six South Africans. The others were mostly from other European nations, Good said.

He said authorities in the United States, United Kingdom and Seychelles were investigating.

The Somali coast is one of the world's most dangerous places. In October, Somali pirates captured a ship carrying food aid for the United Nations' World Food Program and held it for two days before releasing the vessel, crew and cargo.

Earlier in October, pirates released another ship carrying relief food after it and its crew were held for nearly 100 days.

 

[chris in va]

Here's a picture of the ship, before the attack of course.

 

[shermacman]

The Achille Lauro was taken over by only four Palestinian Muslim terrorists. Four! There were almost 1000 people on board, unable and unwilling to act.

 

[Janitor]

There were almost 1000 people on board, unable and unwilling to act.

Mostly unwilling.

I'm not all that familiar with cruise ships, but I wasn't under the impression that they were actually able to "speed" away from anything. I wonder what type of craft the pirates had. Small could mean a lot of things.

I'm guessing that in this case it didn't mean a 22' cigarette boat with twin big block Chevys.

On another note, I'm also wondering if the crew of the cruise ship was armed.


-

 

[Joejojoba111]

The Achille Lauro was taken over by only four Palestinian Muslim terrorists. Four! There were almost 1000 people on board, unable and unwilling to act.

Slightly different, as they were in their room cleaning their weapons when a steward who thought they were suspicious went to check out their (he thought empty) room. It kind of forced their hand, and the first move they made was to capture the bridge.

 

[c_yeager]

Why aren't cruise ships armed?

My understanding is that crusie ships actually do have small armories. At the very least they have some over-unders for clays shooting. Now, freighters on the other hand, are not armed, and they are far juicier targets than cruise ships (which are indeed faster than most anything somali pirates are likely to be using).

 

[ExtremeDooty]

I'm guessing that in this case it didn't mean a 22' cigarette boat with twin big block Chevys.

I believe I saw a picture of one of the boats on the news, I can't remember where, but you're description is pretty accurate.

I also wonder about whether Cruise ships are armed or not. It sounds like they need at least a few "Assault weapons" available.

All the "cruise ships" I was on were definitely armed and even had target practise at times. The US Navy actually enjoyed shooting their guns when I was in.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Well, those people will have an interesting story to tell their grand kids, won't they?

Seems hard to believe they didn't have weapons of some sort. Like someone said, at the very least they had trap and skeet guns with target loads for them. That's a lot better than nothing, and within twenty yards or so would make things very painful for anyone attempting to board.

 

[Sheldon J]

considering that it is like 35' up to the nearest entry point, that is unless they get stupid and open a lower boat port. I was on a cruse last March and although I felt secure, I also felt naked without my HK. They even confiscated a soldering iron from someone trying to take it on board, talk about weapon worry.

 

[yorec]

.........those guys gave up. ... These guys didn't plan this too well."

And next time?

 

[JohnKSa]

Well, those people will have an interesting story to tell their grand kids, won't they?

Not one I would tell.

"Hey Jimmy, did I ever tell you about the time that I huddled in a quivering mass with 150 other passengers while our cruise ship was attacked by pirates? Yup, it was great--we ran away and fortunately our ship was faster than theirs."

 

[musher]

I'm not all that familiar with cruise ships, but I wasn't under the impression that they were actually able to "speed" away from anything.

The stated 'normal' cruising speed of this ship is 16 knots. I wonder if she just looked too tempting loafing along like that.

They list the spirit's overall length as 439'. Knock off the 39 to approximate the bow and you get a 400' waterline.

That makes the upper ranges of hull speed something like 26 knots, maybe faster depending on what she looks like underwater. Plus they can do it for days if they have too. I'll bet that's a fair performance edge over an old fishing boat pressed into pirate duty.

Not too surprising the pirates gave up after a bit.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Just another reason for a big ship to have some light armament. Time to tax the cruise lines and bring back the Missouri. A near miss by a 16" shell will swamp those rubber boats. A whirleybird can drop some blood so the sharks are attracted.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Crap, just have that cruise ship drop all the food that's wasted every day, and the sharks will be all over those small craft.

 

[Kenneth Lew]

All they need is a Barrett XM109.

 

[res1b3uq]

A whirleybird can drop some blood so the sharks are attracted.

Swine blood would be rather fitting, don't you think?

 

[c_yeager]

I'm not all that familiar with cruise ships, but I wasn't under the impression that they were actually able to "speed" away from anything.

Cruise ships are pound for pound the fastest non-military ships on the ocean, by a pretty fair margin. Back in WWII cruise ships were readily converted to troop transports and aircraft carriers due to their high speed.

 

[Oktagon]

You can actually take any weapon you want aboard a cruise ship. I cruise regularly, and disregarding cruise company regulations have a pistol and an AR15 with me. All you need to do is to have your weapons in the luggade (which is unchecked). You go through the metal detectors, but your kuggade goes straight to your state room. At least on cuises departing from Florida.
The main thing is not to take your weapons off the boat when you are in ports. You have to go through screening when you return. Just keep it in your room hidden, or carry concealed around the ship.

 

[Medusa]

rocket-mounted grenades

What the Sam-Hill is that? A new term for RPG?

 

[c_yeager]

You can actually take any weapon you want aboard a cruise ship. I cruise regularly, and disregarding cruise company regulations have a pistol and an AR15 with me. All you need to do is to have your weapons in the luggade (which is unchecked). You go through the metal detectors, but your kuggade goes straight to your state room. At least on cuises departing from Florida.
The main thing is not to take your weapons off the boat when you are in ports. You have to go through screening when you return. Just keep it in your room hidden, or carry concealed around the ship.

Bear in mind that your ship is going to stop in places that punish possession of firearms in a pretty severe manner. Of course, no nation in the world is likely to search a cruise ship for customs, so for all intents and purposes you are pretty safe, but its something worth considering. There is a pretty fair contingent of ocean cruising sailors that tend to go about armed with little trouble. In most cases authorities turn a blind eye to westerners under these circumstances however i wouldnt bank my freedom on the whim of some third world beurocrat. Im not saying you shouldnt carry, just that you should be aware of the risks.

 

[del4]

It does seem like the cruise ships would have some sort of small arms. What about law enforcement unruly passengers, lots of cash, rich old lady tourists. There's lots of opportunity for things to get out of hand. It seems like there would be a couple of guys trained to handle these matters since they are away from real LE for days at a time.

 

[armoredman]

When I got out of the Navy, I toyed with the idea of doing crusie ship security - when I found out almost every one is registered outside the US, and pay thier employees huge sums of $1 an hour, I changed my mind. That was 17 years ago, so I don't know how it is now....
I don't go where I can't be armed.

 

[Geno]

Mount a 30 MM cannon off of a Wart Hog should work

Can you imagine their shock we see a Wart Hog's 30 MM cannon blazing away at them? It would almsot be fun to own a big ship that LOOKS helpless, and go "prirate fishing". Let them pull up close, drop the over panels and one short bust of 300 to 400 rounds later, one less pirate.

I saw a program abut some families who live in Florida (on their boats, and whoo are permitted to have whatever weapons (generally) becuase they spend most their time outside of US waters. Is that true? Does the law apply different for "off-shore" V. on-land?

Doc2005

 

[nfl1990]

Originally Posted by Oktagon
You can actually take any weapon you want aboard a cruise ship. I cruise regularly, and disregarding cruise company regulations have a pistol and an AR15 with me. All you need to do is to have your weapons in the luggade (which is unchecked). You go through the metal detectors, but your kuggade goes straight to your state room. At least on cuises departing from Florida.
The main thing is not to take your weapons off the boat when you are in ports. You have to go through screening when you return. Just keep it in your room hidden, or carry concealed around the ship.

The last time I was on a cruise ship (last Feb.) ALL bags were screened even those that were checked.

 

[Pilgrim]

Just another reason for a big ship to have some light armament. Time to tax the cruise lines and bring back the Missouri. A near miss by a 16" shell will swamp those rubber boats.

I think a 5" proximity fuse shell would do an adequate job.

Pilgrim