German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that MSC Crociere's "Melody" was attacked by Somali pirates approx. three hours ago. Reports are sketchy so far, but armed security aboard were apparently able to repel the attack.

Best,

Raoul

[ 04-25-2009: Message edited by: r.fiebig ]

I'm going to bet all they did was pass some fishinjg boats a la Athena?

The problem with these Somali pirates is that they are getting help from Yemen and possibly quite a few fishermen. I noted one last news report that Yemeni fishermen were removed from a hijacked ship that was recaptured from the pirates.

It is possible that if these pirates are smart enough to catch ships that they are smart enough to hide out in a fishing fleet and stalk their prey from there and assess a situation if it is worth attacking. That way they can get close enough without attacking and get away without suspicion if they are hiding with and posing as fishermen.

I fully agree that "Melody" in particular appears to be a ship which should be very difficult for the pirates to board.

According to an ANSA report, "Melody's" Captain has confirmed that the attack has taken place and that fire has been returned by the cruise ship.

Best,

Raoul

[ 04-26-2009: Message edited by: r.fiebig ]

Best,

The location of the attack is even more disturbing. If they can get that far out then there is no safe passage around Africa at all to escape them. If pirates can get 60 degrees East, then to clear the area of their attacks ships would have to get at least 80 degrees East (East of the southern tip of India) and sail at least 40 degrees south before turning under Africa. If pirates can get 800km from their coast then what is stopping them from operating in the Madagascar Straight and even off the coast of Mozambique and South Africa!

pirate scuzbuckets in their s***box boat score
a big fat ZERO

MSC Melody score ONE big one...

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:
Personally, I think this is all a little bit of hysteria. Knowing Melody, there is little to no way for pirates to attempt a boarding as the aft mooring decks are right over the props.

I'm going to bet all they did was pass some fishinjg boats a la Athena?

Tim

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I am not sure how to comment these words of yours, but it looks like you don´t believe this is true.
Why should it not be true, with more than 100 attacks from pirates in this area documented this year?

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:
Personally, I think this is all a little bit of hysteria. Knowing Melody, there is little to no way for pirates to attempt a boarding as the aft mooring decks are right over the props.

I'm going to bet all they did was pass some fishinjg boats a la Athena?

Tim

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Originally posted by RobHolland:

This does not make any sense at all...as if the stern is the only place to attempt boarding. They actually tried boarding at the bow.

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Originally posted by Cambodge:
Look. A few RPG rounds through the hull will get your attention whether they try to board or not.

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Originally posted by Sutho:
So it would appear Israeli security guards are allowed to carry firearms. I am not aware of what laws exist (if any) that prevent cruise ships from having firearms onbaoard, nor am I aware if certain rules do not apply to Iseaeli's.

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That is, in international waters - when the ship is in territorial waters or in port it is up to that state to decide whether or not to let in a ship carrying arms. This is a very major obstacle to having armed security on board.

There are also issues about insurance.

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
The cost of a good security force is small compare to the ransom and goods lost for cargo ships.

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Would you propose to put armed security on all of the thousands of ships a year that transit this area? Do you have any idea how much that would cost?

The total cost of piracy in 2008 was only something like $70m. This is a small number for the worldwide shipping industry. It is still cheaper to just live with it.

For a ship like MELODY with around 1,000 paying passengers on board not to mention around 500 crew, it might be worth it. But a cruise ship with the potential for over a thousand hostages is rather different from the average ship passing through the area with maybe a dozen crew on board and some cargo.

[ 04-26-2009: Message edited by: dougnewman ]

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Originally posted by eroller:
During my cruise on MSC OPERA I have never seen security quite like it on any ship. I'm not talking about the security when you get on and off the ship, but the guys that make the rounds on the ship as security patrol. They were all young, very in shape, looked like they could be from Israel, and wore dark black suits with no name tag. They also wore ear pieces and would tilt their heads to speak into their microphones. It was all very secret service looking. To be honest we had some good laughs over it. This show of security seemed rather absurd on a cruise ship sailing the Caribbean. It looked silly, especially because most of the time they seemed so bored and never spoke to anyone.

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Carnival has used Israeli security on board their ships for many years, and it is exactly like you've described here. I also recall seeing this aboard the ships of now-defunct Royal Olympia Cruises.

Rich

[ 04-26-2009: Message edited by: Linerrich ]