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News
2005
On November the 5th, 2005, the luxury cruise ship, Seabourn Spirit, was cruising at 14 knots about 70 miles off the coast of Somalia en route to Mombasa, Kenya. Aboard were 151 passengers, from the USA, England, Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa and Norway, along with 161 crewmembers from some 30 countries. My companion, Judy Cala, and I were awakened at 5:30 AM by the sound of something like pinging on the hull. Judy pressed the button to open the shade and peered out the window, exclaiming ""There's a boat out there!"" Now we had not seen a boat for two days anywhere so this was really strange. We saw a 25 foot fiberglass open boat, with large outboard motor racing alongside. It contained five men, one operating the motor and steering, one holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher, one lifting grenades to him, and two firing away at the ship with AK47s. The bullets were making the pinging sound we heard. The boat was about 30 yards away from us and about 20 feet below. Too close for comfort. In the meantime the Captain was announcing over the speaker system that ""There is an unfriendly vessel on the starboard side and for everyone to get off the decks."" Then he announced for us to stay in our staterooms and lock the door. Makes one think the pirates had already boarded the ship. I decided that the photo opportunity was great, so grabbed my camera just in time to see the launcher holder aim seemingly at me and fire. What a burst of flame. As I dove for the other side of the stateroom I could feel the thud of the missile hitting nearby (two staterooms forward and two decks up - about 20 feet) The Captain now announced he wanted every one in the dining room, that was the safest part of the ship. Every one was calm, even though on deck six there was a great deal of smoke and on our deck, (four) the smell was very strong. How much fire was there? We went down the stairs to the dining room which was the deck below. Can you imagine 75 women, hair in curlers, piled high, no makeup, bathrobes?
For the next 45 minutes or so we heard the incessant pinging of bullets and occasional thud of a grenade hitting. The Captain kept us informed, he was zigzagging to create a large wake and he was turning east to get out to sea, hoping that the boats would use up too much gas and turn around so they could get back to shore. He had sent out Maydays and notified the home office in Miami (Seabourn) and LA (Carnival) I really don't know what they could have done! At first we were all on the port side, then he suddenly announced that there was another boat on that side firing at us, and for everyone to sit in the middle. Soon the staff was serving coffee and water while we listened to the bullets strike the hull! Finally he announced that the pirates were turning back.
What we didn't know was that at the beginning one boat was 25 feet from the stern and was trying to board. Later we learned the LRAD (long range acoustic device) was used along with water canons, to drive them away. It seems the most effective one was the LRAD. I had never heard of such a thing. The operator was injured, superficial lacerations, from flying debris when they tried to shoot and disable the device. Radar had not picked up the boats as they were fiberglass. It was thought that we were out of range for this type small boat, but evidently a mother ship brought them out so there range was much greater.
Later we saw the broken windows on the top observation lounge, bullet holes in the ceiling, smoke stains on the hull from the grenades, chipped pain, and one rocket protruding from the hull (That was the one that I thought was aimed at me!). The Captain told us that he had received a Mayday call from another ship just before the attack. He could not recognize the radar inscription so refused. It was probably a mother ship that had brought the smaller vessels out to us and was trying to get us to slow down, or turn.
The Captain stated that we would not be going to Kenya and instead would head straight for the Seychelles, about a day and a half away, and that the USS Gonzales would be meeting us. I interpreted that to mean we would be escorted but the ship met us in harbor at Victoria, checked us out carefully, removed shells that had not exploded and finally gave us the ok to dock. While in Victoria we learned of the amazing number of fishing vessels and freighters that had been hijacked during the past year.
After the initial fright and feeling of thanksgiving wore off and we learned more about our predicament, one started wondering about many things. Why were we 70 miles off the coast instead of the recommended 200? Why were we cruising at a normal speed instead of a recommended maximum speed? If it were safe where we were, why did we have security people on watch, why did we have the LRAD, and why did Seabourn reassure me after the Sharm el Shaik bombing that there was no reason to change the itinerary and the routing was safe.
Maydays didn't seem to do much good. We never saw a plane that might help us. One is all alone on a very big ocean. Thank goodness we had a very good, brave Captain who incidentally happens to be a dead ringer for Sean Connery in ""Hunt for Red October."" How can you be frightened when James Bond is leading you? Was Seabourn cutting it close, were they taking unwarranted chances with their passengers and crew?
If you are going on a cruise, check the US travel advisories on the internet, avoid areas where trouble might find you and use lots of common sense. We enjoyed the rest of the trip, but were uneasy thru the Straits of Malacca and the Singapore straits. It is a big wild world and there are dangers out there!