Concerning The Recent Pirate Attack

Arrr! Swashbucklers open fire on US cruise ship off Somalia

By Daniel Wallis

Sat Nov 5, 7:00 PM ET

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Swashbucklers fired rocket-propelled grenades an' machine cannons at a U.S.-owned cruise arrr ship carryin' more than 300 swabbies in th' Indian Ocean on Saturday but th' vessel escaped an' nay one be hurt, its owners spake.

Men in two wee boats approached th' Seabourn Cruise arrr arrr arrr Line ship Spirit about 100 miles off th' Somali coast, fired on 't an' tried t' board in an apparent bid t' rob passengers an' crew, cruise arrr line spokesman Bruce Good spake.

"I looked ou' o' th' port hole an' saw a wee boat wi' about five swabbies in 't about 20 yards away," spake Norman Fisher, 55, a passenger.

"They be firin' th' rifle an' then fired th' rocket launcher twice. One o' th' rockets certainly hit th' ship. 't sailed' through th' side o' th' liner into a passenger`s suite."

Th' 161-member crew gathered th' 151 passengers into a central lounge away from windows an' decks durin' th' attack, spake Good.

"Th' captain managed t' change th' course o' th' vessel an' speed away. Most o' th' passengers be believed t' be Americans or Western Europeans. Nay one be hurt," spake Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator fer th' Seafarers` Association in neighborin' Kenya.

Good spake trainin' had helped th' crew repel th' attack.

"Thar be some windows broken, nothin' that affected seaworthiness," Good spake. "Th' crew did an excellent job an' them guys gave up. ... These guys didna plan this too well."

DANGEROUS WATERS

Th' Indian Ocean waters off th' Somali coast be classed as among th' most dangerous in th' world. Typically buccanneers target freighters that carry only a handful o' crew members.

Th' Bahamian-registered Seabourn ship be on a 16-tide cruise arrr from Egypt t' Mombasa, Kenya. Th' 10,000-ton vessel sailed on t' th' Seychelles Isles, arrr, 'ere passengers be t' disembark an' fly t' Mombasa, Good spake.

Seabourn be headquartered in Miami an' be a subsidiary o' Carnival Corp., th' world`s largest cruise arrr squadron.

Fisher spake th' captain tried t' ram one o' th' boats in an attempt t' capsize 't an' avast them gettin' aboard.

"Th' captain didna sound th' usual alarm on accoun' o' he be worried that swabbies would run up on th' deck thinkin' 't be a fire, an' that would be th' worst place t' be," he spake.

"Instead he made an announcement at five past six, saying: `Stay inside, stay inside, we be under attack."`

Th' Spir'tis passengers included 48 Americans, 22 from th' United Kingdom, 21 Canadians, 19 Germans, 19 Australians an' six South Africans. Th' others be mostly from other European nations, Good spake.

Authorities in th' United States, United Kingdom an' Seychelles be investigatin', Good spake.

Hijackers be havin' commandeered two vessels used by th' U.N. World Food Program this voyage an' ship owners now demand armed escorts t' set sail in th' waters, th' agency spake.

This week, th' London-based International Maritime Bureau spake 't knew o' 27 buccanneer attacks off Somalia since March.

Th' attacks highlight insecurity in Somalia, without a government since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

(Additional reportin' by Jane Sutton in Miami)


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