MOGADISHU, Somalia - A luxury liner that was attacked by gunmen presumed to be pirates on the high seas near the coast of East Africa managed to quell the attack and ultimately outran the pirates' boats. The Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Lines ship "Spirit" was attacked by about eight to ten pirates in speedboats at about 5:30 in the morning on Saturday.
The attack took place about 160 kilometers off the Somalian coast and it is presumed that the pirates were from that country. One member of the 300 strong crew was slightly injured by the flying debris, but the rest of the crew, which is mostly American, were safe, the vessel's owners said.
"The ship's crew immediately initiated a trained response and as a result of protective and evasive measures taken the occupants of the small craft were unable to gain access to the ship," Seabourn Cruises spokesman David Dingle said. The pirates had rocket-propelled grenades and several sophisticated guns, some of the bullets did hit the vessel, but it is not clear at the moment if the pirates were able to launch the grenades as well.
The ship was going towards Mombassa in Kenya when the pirates struck. The Seabourn Spirit will now end the cruise at the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles on Monday, the company said. Bruce Good, a spokesman for the Seabourn Cruise lines also said that theft could have been the prime motive in attacking the ship.
"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." According to available information the ship was carrying 48 Americans, 22 from the United Kingdom, 21 Canadians, 19 Germans, 19 Australians and six South Africans, while the rest of the passengers were from other European nations.
The waters off the Somali coast are generally regarded as the most dangerous area on the world map. In October, pirates had captured a United Nations' World Food Program vessel carrying relief material and had released the same after two days. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says that since March at least 23 known incidents regarding the pirates have been recorded off the Somali coast. It is not known if these pirates are all part of the same gang or belong to different groups.
