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African
Pirates Attempt Robbery
by Chris McElhatton
There are many attractions to
taking a nice, relaxing cruise just one hundred miles off the scenic
Somalian coast in East Africa… Warm African sun, lightly flavored
tropical drinks, the slight salty sea breeze hanging in the air; all
quite normal things to expect on a cruise. Rarely, though, do people
expect to hear automatic machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades
exploding on the side of their cruise liner.
For the passengers of the Seabourn Spirit, a cruise ship sailing out
of Egypt, waking up at 5.30 in the morning to explosions on their
ship was “somewhat surprising and shocking (sic)” as the companies
spokesman David Dingle put it. Captain of the ship, Sven Erik Pedersen,
quickly took action after discovering two speedboats filled with Somalian
pirates were attacking the ship. “There were at least three RPGs that
hit the ship, one in a stateroom four doors down from our cabin,”
said Seattle native Edith Laird.
Filled with mostly American and British passengers, the ship drew
fire not only from rocket propelled grenades (RPG’s), but as the pirates
ships came within 20 yards of the ship, it also drew fire from their
automatic rifles. Once the pirate attack became heavier, Captain Pedersen
ordered all passengers into the interior dining area, protecting them
from explosions on the outer hull.
Seeing that the passengers’ safety was secured, Captain Pedersen then
prepared the counter measures. Bringing the ship up to a high speed
to try to outrun the pirates, the ship then launched a military-grade
acoustic “grenade,” so strong it can cause ear damage from over 300
meters away.
The device, meant to mimic gunfire, confused the pirates into thinking
they were being fired upon, and hastily they retreated. “We are extremely
pleased that all the measures worked,” David Dingle commented. This
is only the latest of attacks off the African coast, with at least
23 hijackings and attempted seizures have been recorded off the Somali
coast since mid-March.
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