Everybody's talking about Pirates... But how much of a threat do they really pose to today's cruiser and what sort of safeguards are in place from the cruise-lines themselves?
It's around Somalia and the gulf of Aden where the most trouble is occurring. There is no hard and fixed rule. Some cruise-lines are taking the precaution of disembarking all their passengers and sailing the region with a skeleton crew, others are taking firearms on-board to protect themselves. It's a tough question that needs some answers but is there really any way of protecting everyone without getting the world's naval forces back out on pirate-hunts or giving armed escorts to cruise-liners?
I've spoken to one or two passengers recently who are really concerned about what to do - one or two have even cancelled their cruises. How serious is the threat and what would YOU do?!
The ship, carrying 690 passengers and 386 crew, was approached by two small skiffs which fired several shots.
No one on board was hurt and Nautica's captain Jurica Brajcic was able to take evasive action and outrun the two boats.
"One of the skiffs did manage to close the range to 300 yards and fired eight rifle shots in the direction of the vessel before trailing off," said a statement by Oceania. "No one aboard Nautica was harmed and no damage was sustained."
29 Britons are on board the cruise ship, which is due to arrive in Oman today. Passengers paid an average of £15,000 for the cruise.
However, the interception of a cruise ship is far less common. The Gulf of Aden is regularly crossed by cruise ships and the waters are patrolled by anti-piracy forces.
The last such incident involving a cruise ship occurred in November 2005 when the liner Seabourn Spirit was fired upon with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, injuring one crew member.
A spokeswoman for the Passenger Shipping Association - which represents Oceania Cruises - described the incident as a rarity, and maintained that cruising was a safe way to travel.
"Safety is of utmost importance to all cruise companies," she said.
"Each ship must follow security standards and procedures to ensure the well-being of passengers and staff, and they liase with national security and intelligence agencies."
The size of cruise ships means that it can be difficult to board them from smaller vessels. When threatened, some liners possess long-range acoustic devices (LRAD), which emit high frequency noise, to deter potential attackers.
This article from eturbonews.com, titled "Cruise lines weigh tougher response to pirate threat near Somalia" and dated May 17, 2009 tells us more or less exactly what we need to know:
Passengers on MSC Cruises' Melody were partying under the starry midnight sky when armed pirates in a small speedboat attacked their luxury cruise liner last month in the Indian Ocean, and attempted to board the ship on rope ladders.
The 2,000-passenger ship was sailing near the Seychelles Islands, about 700 miles from the coast of Somalia, in waters that international maritime officials considered safe. It managed to evade the pirates.
But the incident — and a couple of others like it in recent years — has raised the issue of whether cruise ships on itineraries near Somalia should be stepping up anti-piracy tactics or avoiding the area altogether.
Historically, cruise line passengers and crew far outnumber pirates who have attempted hijackings. Ships also have onboard security forces and are faster than cargo ships, so they can maneuver and speed past even the most brazen pirates. And many cruise vessels have used other ways of protecting themselves such as blasting water from fire hoses or using devices that give off deafening sound waves.
Sasso said the pirates may have been more easily thwarted because Captain Ciro Pinto used his own discretion and took an extra security precaution before embarking on the journey: allowing a few low-caliber pistols on-board the ship. Those pistols were kept under the captain's lock and key until the pirates' imminent threat forced him to distribute the arms to the ship's specially trained Israeli security officers, who fired blank shots that scared off the intruders.
"That is the only place in the world where you might need that kind of extra protection," the executive said.
As chairman of the Cruise Lines International Association, Sasso said passenger safety and security is always members' top priority. However, the issue of whether cruise ships should be carrying arms on Somali routes is worthy of serious, industry-wide debate, he said.
Itineraries that include East Africa are a tiny fraction of the industry's business and may be shrinking further. From December 2008 until now, there were 20 transits of this area, according to CLIA, which only tracks its member's movements there.
"We have hopes that they'll be able to get this under better control by then," Good said, of international navel forces patrolling those waters.
In 2005, the Seabourn Spirit was attacked by pirates on two small motor boats who fired assault rifles and launched rocket-propelled grenades at the ship. One security guard was injured with shrapnel, but none of the passengers on-board were hurt. The 200-passenger ship — one of the smallest in the cruise industry — managed to evade the attackers by using quick steering and taking off at top speed. The line has sailed in the area since then without incident, Good said.
Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines spokesman Andrew Poulton said the line has no plans to cancel its 15-night cruise from Athens, Greece, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this October. The 700-passenger Voyager will be sailing near capacity, he said.
A few cruise passengers have expressed concern over pirate attacks, but most trust the company to stay vigilant of their safety, Poulton said, declining to discuss the Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here. line's anti-piracy tactics.
Most cruise lines that offer around-the-world itineraries travel the Gulf of Aden route and attract wealthy, experienced cruisers. Regent's 119-day world cruise in 2010 bypasses those waters completely. But Poulton said the decision was prompted by the line's desire to offer new port calls to its world cruise, not a reaction to pirate violence.
"It's something we planned a long time ago," he said, noting the West African course, with a stop in Namibia, is a first for the company.
A spokesman for the company's sister cruise line, Oceania Cruises, could not be reached for comment. The line was attacked last November by pirates on two skiffs. One got as close as 300 yards from the Nautica before ship officials were able to out-run them.
Cruise security experts say lines take piracy issues seriously, and are better equipped to handle attacks than other vessels such as cargo ships.
"I don't think they're ever going to successfully take a cruise ship at sea," said Mike Lee, assistant vice president of McRoberts Maritime Security, which has a consulting office in Miami.
Pirates are short-sighted, Lee said. They don't consider that they have to out-run and board a ship that's bigger and faster with far more people on board, Lee said. "They see a big, white, beautiful cruise ship with a lot of affluent passengers on board and it screams money to them," he said. He's not convinced that arming cruise ships with weapons as another layer of protection is necessary or smart. "Using weapons could really escalate the violence," Lee said. And firing warning shots is not a proven deterrent.
Avoiding the area, though, is a good idea for the cruise lines that can extend the length of their itineraries and absorb extra fuel costs, he said.
"They say it is safe 1,000 miles off shore, and obviously it isn't, so we're going a different way," Sasso said. "The fact that they [pirates] even tried to take the ship and they were so far out, it taught us a lesson."
Source: sun-sentinel.com
See here for a really interesting article on why piracy is on the increase.
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