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Ship Blasted Pirates With Sonic Weapon By JOHN PAIN, AP Business Writer Mon Nov 7, 7:20 PM ET MIAMI - The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday. The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine...

Associated Press MIAMI – The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off the eastern coast of Africa, the cruise line says. The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off the coast of Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard. The subsidiary of Carnival Corp....

MAHE, Seychelles - Pirates who attacked a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia grinned as they aimed grenade-launchers and machine guns at the deck and staterooms, some passengers said Monday, recounting the ordeal after safely docking in this Indian Ocean archipelago. The ship escaped by shifting to high speed and changing course, and the cruise line said Monday the crew also used a sonic weapon, which blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam, as it tried to ward off the attack. "I tell you, it was a very frightening experience," Charles Supple, of Fiddletown, Calif., said by phone. The...

VICTORIA, Seychelles (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy responded Nov. 7 to a request to dispose of suspected unexploded ordnance left over from a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that struck the cruise liner Seabourn Spirit during a Nov. 5 attack by pirates near the coast of Somalia. Members of U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8, Detachment 4, were already in Seychelles to provide support to a previously scheduled port visit by USS Gonzalez. The EOD team met Seabourn Spirit at sea prior to its arrival in port. Two RPG rounds had struck Seabourn Spirit while the vessel evaded...

The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday. The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard. The subsidiary of Carnival Corp. was investigating whether the weapon was successful in...

<p>Australians after a possible terrorist attack off Africa's coast, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.</p> <p>The passengers on the US-owned Seabourn Spirit were woken by machinegun fire and a rocket-propelled grenade crashing into the vessel at dawn on Saturday about 160km off the coast of the lawless nation of Somalia. The luxury cruise ship is about to dock in the Seychelles, but Mr Downer said that could be delayed while officials disarm the unexploded ordnance.</p>

IN MARITIME circles it is regarded as the pinnacle of luxury - a boutique ship that offers its passengers a lifestyle which, like private jets, the top suite at the Ritz and Krug champagne, is reserved for the privileged few. But in the early hours of yesterday morning, as guests slept in their spacious en-suite cabins complete with sea views, marble bathrooms and mahogany dining rooms, a band of armed pirates was preparing to storm aboard the Seabourn Spirit. Passengers, some of whom had paid more than £19,000 for the 16-day voyage, were woken at 5.30am when the attack began...

AN unexploded missile is embedded in an accommodation unit after a possible terrorist attack off the east African coast, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said today. The passengers on the US-owned Seabourn Spirit were woken by machinegun fire and a rocket-propelled grenade crashing into the vessel at dawn on Saturday about 160km off the coast of the lawless nation of Somalia. The luxury cruise ship is about to dock in the Seychelles, but Mr Downer said that could be delayed while officials disarm the unexploded ordnance. "We're not sure whether in the early stages the ship will be able to...

Pirates armed with grenade launchers and machine guns tried to hijack a luxury cruise liner off the east African coast Saturday, but the ship outran them, officials said. Two boats full of pirates approached the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast and opened fire while the heavily armed bandits tried to get onboard, said Bruce Good, spokesman for the Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. The ship escaped by shifting to high speed and changing course.

Seabourn Cruise Lines, whose luxury ship was attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean, will re-evaluate whether to continue cruises off the coast of Somalia following the attack... "We don't know of any other time where a cruise ship has been attacked by pirates," she told CNN. "They generally tend to (attack) tankers and freighters that have very small number of crew on board. "We do know, of course, that the Indian Ocean is an area that we have to be more alert, and we were traveling through the area in a high state of alert," ... the pirates were...

A luxury liner sailing off the coast of Somalia fended off an attack by gunmen in speedboats early Saturday morning in an area notorious for piracy. None of the mostly American passengers aboard the Seabourn Spirit were harmed but one crew member was lightly injured as they repelled the attackers without returning fire. The crew used an on-board loud acoustic bang to fight off the attackers, leading them to believer they were under heavy fire. Since March 2005, there have been 23 attacks against oceangoing vessels, including one against a ship delivering food from the U.N.'s World Food Program.

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...

A LUXURY ship today narrowly escaped seizure by gunmen off the pirate-infested Somali coast when it sped off to the high seas amid a trail of gunfire. The vessel was carrying at least 600 tourists from Europe destined to the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, where it was expected to arrive Monday, Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme (SAP) told AFP. "The captain made a distress call and later switched off the radio communication to avoid being traced by the hijackers," Mwangura said. He said that the gunmen sailing in three boats later abandoned the...