The prime suspect in this attack. Name: Captain Jack Sparrow.
His ship: The Black Pearl
Most recently seen : Leaving France.
"Too dangerous there. Those people are nuts!"
Posted on 11/05/2005 9:29:46 AM PST by Pokey78
MIAMI (AP) - Pirates fired a rocket-propelled grenade and machine guns Saturday in an attack on a luxury cruise liner off the east African coast, the vessel's owners said.
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 Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp.
The crew initiated a trained response and avoided being boarded, Good said. The ship outran them and changed its course.
"Our suspicion at this time is that the motive was theft," Good said.
One member of the 161-person crew was slightly injured before the attackers were repelled, according to a London-based Seabourn Cruises spokesman.
Press Association, the British news agency, said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached the liner. The injured crew member was reportedly hit by flying debris.
The vessel's 151 passengers, mostly Americans with some Australians and Europeans, were gathered in a lounge for their safety, Good said. None were injured.
The Spirit had been bound for Mombasa, Kenya, at the end of a 16-day voyage from Alexandria, Egypt. It was expected to reach the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean later Saturday, and then continue on its previous schedule to Singapore, Good said.
The 10,000-ton cruise ship, registered in the Bahamas, sustained minor damage, Good said. "They took some fire, but it's safe to sail," he said.
:-)
Thanks, I was also wondering what a "Q ship" was, never before have heard that term.
Hell, some well-placed bowling balls dropped from 60 feet should do the trick. Or deck chairs. Or pipe wrenches.
" Terrorist Class....can you all say, "REHEARSAL?""
Nah, this is pure piracy. Happens all the time off the Horn of Africa. It's a major industry over there.
Maybe it's because I've been to most of these places, not on vacation, that leaves me with a bad taste about them. I can tell anyone who will listen, go west or north. "That way..." is nothing but trouble...
Is that offered?!! To hell with Disneyland! I'm going on a cruise!!!
LOL! Reminds me of the "Puffy Shirt" episode on Seinfeld.
"Merchant ships with hidden deck guns. Brits used them during World wars 1-2 to take out German U boats that surfaced to fire their deck guns at what they tought would be an unarmed ship."
We used them too in WWII. Father served on one while an officer in the USCG.
A flamethrower would make a great anti-boarding tool.
I would think that a few shots into the inflatible boats would put a quick end to thier pirating days.
How about the garbage and waste?
Yes, the Food-Aid packages are in bloom and the flies are in migration...
Oh, and the Islamazis are in full peacock display!
All feisty and ready after Ramadan-a-lama-ding-dong!
=====================================
Just run up to the rec room for a few of these and let the pirates swim home.
The Islamofacists must be desperate for cash to have to resort to piracy.
We are winning the WOT.
All purchased from a "low talker"
Rebelbase is correct. The program proved unsuccessful in the Second World War and was soon abandoned.
Here's an article from the US Navy historical site:
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/wwii/Q-ships.htm
The program wasn't particularly successful in the Great War either; 44 Q ships lost compared to 15 U-boats sunk by them.
More from the BBC here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series3/qships_submarine_firstworldwar.shtml
http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php
Weekly Piracy Report
25-31 October 2005
The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 25 to 31 October 2005.
ALERT
Somalia - NE and Eastern Coast
Twenty five incidents have been reported since 15.03.05. Heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. A recent incident took place 120 nm off the eastern coast. Ships are advised to keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast.
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