Pirates fire on US cruise ship in hijack attempt

[onehandle]

Source: AP

NAIROBI, Kenya – Pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along a corridor patrolled by international warships, officials said Tuesday.

The captain of the M/S Nautica ordered passengers inside and gunned the engine, allowing the ship to outrun the pirates' speedboats in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, a company spokesman said.

"It is very fortunate that the liner managed to escape," said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia. He urged ships to remain vigilant in the area.

In a statement on its Web site, Oceania Cruises, Inc. said pirates fired eight rifle shots at the liner, but that the ship's captain increased speed and managed to outrun the skiffs.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081202/ap_on_re_af/piracy

[Renew Deal]

1. Why are cruise ships running without escort in pirate waters?

That's just plain dumb.

[hlthe2b]

4. Out of Control Disney PR stunt?

to promote Pirates of the Caribbean 75? :sarcasm:

[KansDem]

14. Or maybe a new Disney movie, "Honey, I Outran the Pirates" (nt)

[hlthe2b]

2. Was it Somali pirates (or Blackwater disguised as pirates)

wanting lucrative "protection" contracts. My cynisism is well-founded...

[DS1]

3. Nope. Walmart shoppers demanding their portable GPS systems

[shadowknows69]

25. ........

I smell an extortion racket

[DUgosh]

5. Will they charge passengers extra

For the battle with pirates excursion?

[pattmarty]

11. I pissed my pants on that one, thanks!!

[DUgosh]

34. Cruisers Rock

:yourock:

[MidwestTransplant]

6. Why don't they use decoys to rope these idiots in then dispatch with them

[slackmaster]

7. I think ships should turn their fire hoses on pirate boats

That would be fun to see.

[MidwestTransplant]

12. I wouldn't want to be the one who brought a fire hose to a gun fight!

[Mike Daniels]

8. The pirates are pushing their luck....

As soon as someone gets injured or killed the preventive efforts will take a much harder and aggressive turn.

[gcomeau]

9. Proposed solution...

1. Place (well secured) armory on Cruise Ships.
2. Identify soldiers returning from long deployments who need some rest time. Like, whole squads or platoons of them.
3. Assign them to "plainclothes security detail" on the cruises, with the key to the armory. Which consists mostly of hanging out being cruise passengers and being there just in case. Who thinks they'd get volunteers for the assignment? :)

[DS1]

18. Fuck no

You think a soldier wants to go on a cruise and be responsible for weapons for free?


I think that's the dumbest thing I've heard all week.

[gcomeau]

22. I think you perhaps misread my proposal.

Here, let's see what you pick:

"Hi there troops. Got something to run by you. We were about to assign you to Afghanistan for your next tour but we have this other thing that came up and we're looking for volunteers... seems there's this luxury cruise ship that needs a security detail. Don't want to worry the passengers too much so it'll have to be low key. We'll put you up in a regular room, want you to act just like any other passenger. Go swimming, enjoy the buffets, you get the idea (hit the gym though, no letting yourselves go now). You just hold onto this key to the armory we're going to set up while you're there though and if there's any pirate trouble you and your buddies go do something about it."

So... where do YOU want to be assigned? Is the last place you want to be REALLY the deck of a cruise ship getting a suntan and hanging out "just in case" you have to take on the very scary ragtag group of pirate idiots? Or is it bunkered down in Afghanistan? Or back in Iraq?

Then again... it's possible you were engaging in sarcasm and the sarcasm-deadening powers of the interwebs have struck again.

[DS1]

24. In your proposal, you offered that deal to guys coming ~back~ from their tours

not headed towards them. Of course I'd take the cruise deal, if our entire unit got to take part ~and~ the unit waiting to be replaced on time was replaced on time.

[gcomeau]

26. I was focused on what happens AFTER they come back.

They wait a little while, then they get turned around. I was focusing on turning them around to somewhere else. But yes, I could have made that clearer.

[DS1]

29. alright then

that's not the dumbest thing I've heard all week

[LuckyLib]

10. It's only a matter of time before a cruise ship is seized. The international

community needs to get tough -- no mercy -- on pirates on the high seas. You approach a ship, do not know the international communication signals, do not halt, etc., a navy ship acts -- you are toast. Period.

[sandnsea]

13. Can't leave people in poverty n/t

[jobycom]

15. Wow. This means something, but who knows what?

First, it means that the fear of the US is weaker than it used to be, if pirates, who are the ultimate free-market capitalists opposed to all government intervention, attack our cruise lines.

But why would they even risk it? The consequences are extreme even if they succeeded. Are they really unafraid of us? Or is this just some rogue group that doesn't understand what it's dealing with, or led by some hubris-ridden captain unconcerned with the consequences? Or is poverty just so extreme that even a temporary victory is worth the consequences?

Or is there something more sinister? When Poppy Bush left office he left Clinton a landmine in Africa, in the form of humanitarian troops in Somalia. This was deliberate sabotage by HW, who hoped Clinton would screw up so badly people would push a Republican back into power in four years. The trap almost worked, until Clinton just pulled all troops out. Could BushCo be trying to start something for Obama? Could he have plans to escalate violence with Kenya or whatever African nation he can accuse of harboring pirates? Might he even try to send troops or fleets somewhere as a trap for Obama?

Hope not, but one wonders anyway.

[dbmk]

17. Which consequences?

Someone just got paid bigtime for an oiltanker. Nice big cruiseship could probably net a tidy sum too.

[Bozita]

16. What a coincidence. ... Time to call Blackwater?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3627149

[benld74]

19. ATTENTION!! SKEET SHOOTING ON THE LIDO DECK HAS BEEN POSTPONED!

[slackmaster]

20. Hmmmm, I had a lot of fun doing "familiarization fire" on a US Navy Tiger Cruise

Senior skeets after lunch, advanced machine gun shoot at 3:00 PM. No more pirates.

[natrat]

23. no no no ...how about grenade launching off the poop deck...prizes for pirate boats sunk

[mainer]

21. Why don't they all do this?

Or are most ships too slow to outrun the little pirate ships?

[catnhatnh]

27. US Cruise ship???

Hmmm...Well, the company IS incorporated in Colorado, BUT the ships are registered to the Marshall Islands...Hope they have a large navy if a rescue becomes neccesary. Because the Navy I help pay for should rescue only American flagged vessels...

[MaineDem]

28. I agree, this is NOT a US ship

Poor reporting.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. Still officially up to the US Navy

under the 1983 Compact of Free Association, the US has full authority and responsibility for security and defense of the Marshall Islands

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rm.html

You get a missile testing range in return.

[balantz]

30. How can we know that Blackwater isn't behind some of these "pirate" activities?

Check this out: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3627149#3627158

Surely they have learned from and are connected to the CIA playbook and agenda.

The CIA has long been known to play both sides and create enemies for the MIC to profit by warring with.

Blackwater mercenaries aren't going away from the world scene any time soon, and as they have operated in Iraq, they will operate elsewhere; in an evil manner.

[Mike Daniels]

31. You can't but given that the piracy has been going on for years it's more likely that any attacks

are the work of "legitimate" pirates.

Besides, based on the physical evidence based on stories/pictures from Iraq I think that most of Blackwater's employees are white/caucasian. I think the crew of any ships ransomed would notice the "what's wrong with this picture" factor of being boarded by a bunch of people who don't look Somalian.

[Skink]

33. They probably had blackhawk heicopters enroute.

The pirates might want to leave the cruise industry alone.