NAIROBI — An Italian cruise ship used guns and a firehose to beat off an attack by pirates off the east African coast, the vessel's captain said Sunday.
Pirates also freed a Yemeni-owned tanker, the Sea Princess II, Sunday, a Kenyan maritime official that monitors growing piracy off Somalia told Reuters.
Commander Ciro Pinto of the MSC Melody, which has a capacity of 1,500 passengers and crew, said his ship was slightly damaged by firing from the pirates.
The ship came under attack when it was 200 miles north of the Seychelles and 600 miles off the Somali coast. "They started firing like crazy at the ship," he told Italian television Skytg24.
Pinto said pistols were handed out to security staff and they opened fire on the pirates when they tried to clamber up the sides of the ship.
Read more here:
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20080926/INTERNATIONAL-US-SOMALIA-PIRACY/Don't wanna violate copyright issues, hence the teaser and link...
That being said, here's a bit that I found particularly interesting (ok, it made me sick, but made me chuckle at the same time)...
Although the ship's action may have saved the Melody from capture, the Kenyan maritime official said it only endangered the lives of passengers.
"Having weapons on a passenger or merchant ship is dangerous. They should have used other means to shake off the pirates, like a loud acoustic device," said Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa-based East African Sea Farers Assistance Program.
Well, Mr. Mwangura, it looks like the only people it was dangerous for was the pirates! And that having the pistols on board kept the pirates from seizing a ship with potentially 1500 hostages!