NationStates Jolt Archive

Knowing the danger of pirates along the Somali, I wonder why the cruise ship took that course. I’m glad no one on board was seriously injured.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174677,00.html

Pirates rule! As of a few weeks ago, becoming a pirate was added to my figurative table of potential careers.

Cool! I didn't know Somailia was made up of fiefdoms. Gotta love Africa.

Wow, that is pretty crazy. I was sort of under the impression pirates had pretty much fallen by the wayside over time. I guess I was wrong.

Arrrrrrrrrr

Sorry couldn't resist.

As the official Bishop of this Diocese of the First United Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I hereby stamp this thread and the incident described with this Noodly Stamp of Approval. Ask any pastafarian - Pirates RULE!


http://elliottback.com/wp/wp-content/flying-spaghetti-monster.jpg

Pirates are quite common off the coasts of Africa, S America and in SE Asia. Nowadays they wield ski masks and AK-47 however.

Please tell me that they at least occasionally say things like "ye landlubber!" and "yarr!". Please? Pretty please?

Please tell me that they at least occasionally say things like "ye landlubber!" and "yarr!". Please? Pretty please?

I highly doubt it

Good thing the ship wasn't boarded, because you know there was at least one ninja on the ship, and then the pirates would've really be doomed :D

Heh, really sounds weird actually. I knew Pirates were still around, but...

Why the hell would you attack a cruise ship? I thought nowadays they attack large containerships etc. who have only 7 persons on board...(could be wrong)

Avast, they should walk the plank:p

Heh, really sounds weird actually. I knew Pirates were still around, but...

Why the hell would you attack a cruise ship? I thought nowadays they attack large containerships etc. who have only 7 persons on board...(could be wrong)

This was a High Class ship. Many rich people.

Smallish boat. Easy to capture. Good pickins.

Hmmmm, they plan a two boat attack, bring weapons, but don't think that the boat may be bigger, faster, and god forbid, run away!

I am still in shock at the pure awesomeness of pirates attacking a cruise ship.

Hey Sir Peter Blake was Killed by Pirates.:(

Ye should know by now that the seven Seas are my domain and to carelessly perouse them is shear folly Avast ye miserable swine!

Say what you will, the days of maritime piracy are far from over.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Pirates armed with grenade launchers and machine guns tried to hijack a luxury cruise liner off the east African coast Saturday, but the ship outran them, officials said.

Two boats full of pirates approached the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast and opened fire while the heavily armed bandits tried to get onboard, said Bruce Good, spokesman for the Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp.

The ship escaped by shifting to high speed and changing course.

"These are very well-organized pirates," said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program. "Somalia's coastline is the most dangerous place in the region in terms of maritime security."

The attackers never got close enough to board the Spirit, but one member of the 161-person crew was injured by shrapnel, cruise line president Deborah Natansohn said.

The vessel's 151 passengers, mostly Americans with some Australians and Europeans, were gathered in a lounge for their safety, Good said. None were injured.

"Our suspicion at this time is that the motive was theft," Good said, adding that the crew had been trained for "various scenarios, including people trying to get on the ship that you don't want on the ship."

The British news agency Press Association said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached the liner.

Edith Laird of Seattle, who was traveling with her daughter and a friend, told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an e-mail that her daughter saw the pirates out the window.

"There were at least three rocket-propelled grenades that hit the ship, one in a state room," Laird wrote. "We had no idea that this ship could move as fast as it did and (the captain) did his best to run down the pirates."

The Spirit was bound for Mombasa, Kenya, at the end of a 16-day voyage from Alexandria, Egypt. It was expected to reach the Seychelles on Monday, and then continue on its previous schedule to Singapore, company officials said.

The 440-foot-long, 10,000-ton cruise ship, which is registered in the Bahamas, sustained minor damage, Good said. The liner, which had its maiden voyage in 1989, can accommodate 208 guests.

"They took some fire, but it's safe to sail," he said.

There has been a steep rise in piracy this year along Somalia's nearly 2,000-mile coastline, with 15 violent incidents reported between March and August, compared with just two for all of 2004, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce that tracks trends in piracy.

In June, a U.N.-chartered ship carrying 935 tons of rice for Somali victims of the Asian tsunami was hijacked by pirates, who held crew members hostage for three months before releasing them.

Somalia has had no effective central government since opposition leaders ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The leaders then turned on each other, transforming this nation of 7 million into a patchwork of battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_af/pirate_attack

Old news travels fast on NS.
We already have 2 threads on this, and piracy never was "over." The day of the privateer may have passed, but piracy is little different from carjacking moved out to include boats.

Arrrrgh

At least they weren't butt pirates.

They must have had damn slow boats if a cruise liner was able to outrun them.

At least they weren't butt pirates.
Are you a homophobe, sir? I should hope not, pirates have just as much a right to be gay as they do to be straight.
They can't be bi, though, because that goes against the pirate code as it complicates arrangements about which bathroom they are allowed to use.

Pirates are cool. I'm gonna be a pirate someday....:fluffle:

Yarr, harr.

They must have had damn slow boats if a cruise liner was able to outrun them.
That depends on how you define "slow". Most modern cruise ships can reach up to thirty knots and beyond now a days, and they've got a lot more range than a 25-foot zodiac does. They are also pretty damned manouverable (bow thrusters, large rudders and stuff), so the Captain prolly roughed them up a bit by banging into them and stuff.

I guess they didn't get the memo about highseas piracy being outdated. :rolleyes:

I guess they didn't get the memo about highseas piracy being outdated. :rolleyes:
Except that it isn't. Piracy never died out, and it never will. Privateers are a thing of the past, but there are still a number of "independents."

And the fact that piracy hasn't and won't died is yet another reason that pirates are better than ninjas.

And the fact that piracy hasn't and won't died is yet another reason that pirates are better than ninjas.
Indeed. While pirates are free to innovate and evolve with the times (swapping out patches for glass eyes and trading in blunderbusses for AK47s), Ninjas are left behind in their archaic and increasingly useless ways.

Except that it isn't. Piracy never died out, and it never will. Privateers are a thing of the past, but there are still a number of "independents."

I never said it died out. Only that its outdated and not the best way to make money. Internet piracy is far better now.

I never said it died out. Only that its outdated and not the best way to make money. Internet piracy is far better now.
Yes, but Internet Piracy hardly gives you an excuse to shoot your neighbor and wear an eyepatch, does it? And Piracy makes up for its low profits by offering something that being a h4xxor does not, Piracy offers gay sailor sex! And Adventure. And Adventurous gay sailor sex!

Yes, but Internet Piracy hardly gives you an excuse to shoot your neighbor and wear an eyepatch, does it? And Piracy makes up for its low profits by offering something that being a h4xxor does not, Piracy offers gay sailor sex! And Adventure. And Adventurous gay sailor sex!
:rolleyes:

That depends on how you define "slow". Most modern cruise ships can reach up to thirty knots and beyond now a days, and they've got a lot more range than a 25-foot zodiac does. They are also pretty damned manouverable (bow thrusters, large rudders and stuff), so the Captain prolly roughed them up a bit by banging into them and stuff.

Alright 2 things....1, theres no way in hell that a 25 foot inflatable can take a hit from a cruise ship and not flip. And 2, a cruise ship going 25 or 30 knots creates a massive wake; large enough to make it impossible for a small craft to get close enough to board it.


That must be a sweet thought: knowing you've got not guns and still can't be beat by the silly Pirates.


Oh, and a brilliant analysis on why it pays to be an old school pirate Mr. Fiddlebottoms.

:rolleyes:
HOMOPHOBE!

Yes, but Internet Piracy hardly gives you an excuse to shoot your neighbor and wear an eyepatch, does it? And Piracy makes up for its low profits by offering something that being a h4xxor does not, Piracy offers gay sailor sex! And Adventure. And Adventurous gay sailor sex!

Thats the best kind ;)

Say what you will, the days of maritime piracy are far from over.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_af/pirate_attack
Anyone who ever thought so was living a very sheltered life.

Say what you will, the days of maritime piracy are far from over.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_re_af/pirate_attack

Ah, but you forgot the last part of the story:

The pirates were soon tracked down by the nearest US Navy vessel and dispatched by a tomahawk cruise missile, said a military spokesman. The vessel's captain was not directly available for comment, but was overheard muttering "what a bunch of morons" after giving the order to fire.

*random snippage*
A British tourist told how he watched helplessly as pirates fired a rocket launcher at his luxury cruise liner.

Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from Hampstead Garden Suburb in north London was on the Seabourn Spirit 100 miles off Somalia in Africa when the attack from small boats took place.


The first many bleary-eyed passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen came on the public address system and said: "Stay inside, we're under attack."

Terrified passengers, including 18 from Britain, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of a grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.

Mr Fisher said: "I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2202952005

I guess now I know where to go if I want to book an action cruise!:D

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2202952005

I guess now I know where to go if I want to book an action cruise!:D

So you're the guy with an AK-47 fighting off the pirates and blowing up their little boats using home-made bombs?

So you're the guy with an AK-47 fighting off the pirates and blowing up their little boats using home-made bombs?

No, I'm a random landlubber from the states. I can't afford a cruise, either.:(

No, I'm a random landlubber from the states. I can't afford a cruise, either.:(

One day, you'll get the money. Unfortunately, that's when you're 60 ...

Pirates are cool. I'm gonna be a pirate someday....:fluffle:

I'm a little confounded as to the relevance of two emoticons making out at the end of this post... :confused:

Knowing the danger of pirates along the Somali, I wonder why the cruise ship took that course. I’m glad no one on board was seriously injured.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174677,00.html
Ummm, maybe because the only other route was to go thru the med and all the way around Africa and is literally about 100 times the distance as going thru the canal and down the Red Sea! It really is the only route and they can't be much further than 100 miles off the coast in that area. Plus if they can hit a liner at that distance then they can hit them anywhere they want to. Though the number of pirates and pirate attacks in that area is not even a tenth of what are in and around Indonesia and people vacation and sail thru there constantly!

The captain was Sven Erik Pedersen - a Norwegian. So it takes a viking to outrun pirates on the high seas, when there's no urban ninjas onboard the ship to protect them if boarded :cool:

The captain was Sven Erik Pedersen - a Norwegian. So it takes a viking to outrun pirates on the high seas, when there's no urban ninjas onboard the ship to protect them if boarded :cool:
Yeah, and keep in mind that vikings are good fighters too, once you give them an axe and some toadstool...:D

If I were a pirate, I would definitely find a lonely, deserted island and a cave in there, then positioning a magnificent treasure there, drawing a map, putting it into a bottle, throwing the bottle to the ocean and then sailing away, immeadiately forgetting the coordinates to the island.

That's what pirates are really up to.

Sounds like they've all been watching too much One Piece. XP

-Asylum Nova

Allah, God, Jesus, Buddha, The True Name, Baal, or whatever other supreme being you may believe in - bless those pirates.

They really put the 'Arrrrrr' back in our lives.

I wonder if they recruit?

Pirates rock!!!

Pirates rock!!!

Be carefull, bro. Remember the copy laws... Someone can report you to the cops!

Be carefull, bro. Remember the copy laws... Someone can report you to the cops!
sea faring pirates that saw ARRRRRRRRRRR rock!!! :D