Italy Cruise Ship Fires on Somali Pirates

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517955,00.html ^

[Jonny foreigner]

ROME — An Italian cruise ship fended off a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia, with its security forces exchanging fire with the bandits, the commander said Saturday.

Cmdr. Ciro Pinto told Italian state radio that six men in a small white boat approached the Msc Melody and opened fire Saturday night, but retreated after security forces aboard the cruise ship returned fire.

Domenico Pellegrino, head of the ship-owner Msc Cruises, told ANSA news agency that all 1,500 passengers and crew aboard the Melody were safe, and credited Pinto for his "cool-headed" handling of the incident.

The attack occurred about 180 miles north of the Seychelles. The ship was on a 22-day cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy.

ANSA said the ship was now headed as scheduled to the Jordanian port of Aqaba.

Pirates have attacked more than 100 ships off the Somali coast over the last year, reaping an estimated $1 million in ransom for each successful hijacking, according to analysts and country experts.

Another Italian-owned vessel remains in the hands of pirates. The Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer was seized off Somalia on April 11 with 16 crew members aboard.

[Max in Utah]

Phalanx 20mm gun. Accept no substitutes.

[FastCoyote]

“One hell of an rpg. Sure you don’t mean a harpoon or a sunburn?”

Apparently I stand corrected on the amount of damage an RPG can cause a ship. But that then begs the question of why the ships are not armed (and yes I know there are port restrictions).

[Polybius]

Hell, sounds like a great idea for a vacation trip to me. Get a bunch of ex-grunts and wannabees together, hire a cruise ship and go trolling for pirates.

Hmmm .... Your business model has great potential:

"Q-Ship Cruises"

[Polybius]

I didn’t see it in the link but the female anchor on FOX this morning said it was a Israeli security team(civilian?). Can anyone confirm?

(IsraelNN.com) ..... Israeli Security Guards Thwarted Somalian Pirates from Takeover ..... The head of Msc Cruises, Domenico Pellegrino, said that the Italian cruise line hired the Israelis because they were the best trained. Cruise line security work is a popular job for Israelis who are released from their mandatory military stint.

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Target practice!

[Frantzie]

LOL! Gotta love the Italians. Hopefully Beretta will sell them a few nice guns to insure they do not mess with Italian ships.

Probably one of the few sattes along with the Germans and Austrians who may actually end up standing up to IslamoFacism’s takeover of Western Europe helped by the Poles just like 1683 AD.

[Frantzie]

Well at least the Italians and French do not elect Muslims to run their country.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Any word as to how dead the pirates are?

[ChildOfThe60s]

Novel concept. Shooting back that is.

As for taking captured pirates somewhere for trial. I would assume at least some of these incidents are in international waters. No need for live prisoners. No need for prisoners. Oops, they all fell overboard.

[upcountryhorseman]

Putting well trained, well armed guards on each ship that
goes near Somalia is a lot cheaper than paying a huge ransom.

[rahbert]

sure you could let the pirates go, but first fire a few
rounds into their outboard engines and into the hull. They
either paddle real fast or go down with their ship.

[mojitojoe]

Is that a real hat for sale online?

[norraad]

Oops, they all fell overboard...

....fillet and release...

[VlPu]

Somali pirates, champions of end times reductionism

As far as the Law of End Times Reductionism concerning the poorest: they live in one of the areas of the world where the "empty shelves" stage was first reached.
As far as the fundamental Law of End Times Reductionism, concerning reduction of basic assets, they reduced the largest area (the ocean, safe for navigation) at an unprecedented rate in History.
As far as Reductionism as KEY to End Times Conspiracies:
- they maximally reduced the War on Terror Hoax. (1)- they maximally reduced the "Citizens Disarmed is base for security" agenda. (2)

Notes
(1) April 8: Somali pirates seize sixth ship within one week. This time taking 20 american hostages.
What does this have to do with "North Korean ICBM launch exposes ABM Hoax - End Times Reductionism overflying Japan", a few days earlier?
http://end-times-reductionism.blogspot.com/2009/04/somali-pirates-champions-of-end-times.html

(2) Citizens disarmed agenda maximally reduced: a few shots into the air were enough to prevent an Italian Cruise Ship to become the largest vessel ever to be captured by pirates in History.

[sinanju]

I remember being in during the eighties. The CIWS Phalanx 20mm guns then had no electro-optical (TV) sighting system and were useless for shooting surface targets or basically anything that wasn’t an approaching missile.

During Beiruit, this led to the pathetic spectacle of USN cruisers and destroyers requiring marine sharpshooters and stinger missile wielders on deck to protect the ships from attacks by small airplanes and motorboats.

It was a ludicrous spectacle.

[sinanju]

“Pinto reported that he subsequently instructed the Israeli security guards to remove their pistols from the safe and to fire towards the pirates. The ship concurrently made maneuvers to make it harder for the attackers.

“We started to fire. When they saw us firing, and even when we splashed water at them, they gave up and left,” Pinto said. “It felt like we were in a war,” Pinto added.”

______________________________________________________________________________________

Pistols. In a safe. Fired towards the pirates. Splashed water at them.

You may color me unimpressed. Though I imagine it’s a great way for a young Israeli to make some dough after their enlistment. And have some serious fun in the sun.

[festusbanjo]

It’s funny but the same thing happens when criminals try to break into your home. You start shooting and they instantly lose their nerve. Kill em all, let allah sort them out!

[antiunion person]

Not that I'm an expert about weapons by any means, but I don't think an rpg has enough power to blow through the steel hull of an oil tanker. A cruise liner, I imagine would have the same thickness of hull as a oil hauler. Maybe a naval person can answer this question. I know no ship is unsinkable but if the water tight doors/hatches are sealed and a flooding compartment sealed off, wouldn't that keep a ship from going down?? If it's hit multiple times, it will probably sink, but only one hit, I don't think it will.
But the comment about Bush being blamed about a ship being sunk, hell yes, they will blame him. I'm supposed the media and Obama Osama the non thinker is not already blaming the Bush administration for the swine flu breakout in Mexico.

[magooey]

a 22-day cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy.

Uck. You couldn't pay me to take that trip.

What if they went the other way, traveling West then North?

[Frank_2001]

“Used to be able to shoot clays off the aft section of a cruise ship . Long gone now .”

Why is that-were they afraid the shotgun pellets would pollute the water?