MV SEABOURNE SPIRIT

WE ALL HAVE HEARD  MANY INCIDENTS IN WHICH THE PIRATES HAVE ATTACKED THE SHIP AND HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN A RANSOM BUT WE MUST FEEL PROUD THAT ONE OF THE PASSENGER SHIPS NAMED MV SEABOURN SPIRIT OUT RAN THE PIRATES IN THIS FAMOUS INCIDENT WHICH TOOK PLACE IN 2005.THIS SHIP DID THAT WITH THE HELP OF  A DEVICE CALLED LRAD [LONG RANGE ACOUSTIC DEVICE].

  

 Seabourn Spirit is a German-built cruise ship completed in 1989. The luxury liner travels between Europe and Africa, and is owned by the Seabourn Cruise Line. In early 2005 it was rated the best small cruise ship by Condé Nast.

 

A GREAT ESCAPE

 

  Pirate attack

GRENADE ATTACK

The motor of a rocket propelled grenade (RPG), shown after striking the cruise liner Seabourn Spirit

MICHAEL GROVES

On 5 November 2005 at 5:50 am, Spirit was while underway 115 km off the coast of Somalia with 115 passengers aboard where the ship was attacked by two pirate speedboats launched by a mother ship. Machine guns were fired as well as rocket propelled grenades were fired at the cruise ship, and the remains of an RPG's rocket motor wedged itself in the wall of a room and was disarmed by sailors from USS Gonzalez after the attack.It was reported that a second RPG bounced off the stern.No passengers were injured, but the ship's Master-at-Arms, Michael Groves, was hit by shrapnel whilst attempting to combat the raiders with a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). The sonic device repelled the pirates by blasting a powerful sound wave.Groves and fellow British colleague Som Bahadur Gurung (an ex-Gurkha) were honoured for their bravery by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 16 May 2007, receiving the Queen's Gallantry Medal and the Queen's Commendation for Bravery respectively.The ship then altered course to Port Victoria in the Seychelles for repairs rather than the originally-planned Mombasa in Kenya.^[4] The ship then sailed to Singapore and returned to its original schedule.

According to a report from Cruise Critic member Norman J. Fisher, a passenger onboard the Seabourn Spirit when the incident occurred at about 5:30 a.m. local time, "the ship was hit by a large number of bullets and at least one rocket. One crew member was injured." The pirates –- each of the two boats reportedly had four or five of them aboard –- were attempting to board Seabourn Spirit. In order to do so they fired shots into the ship. One crew member was, according to Fisher, injured by shrapnel. The captain otherwise refused to allow passengers to go above decks as the fear was that folks that were visible might well be shot. In a bulletin appearing on CNN's Web site, Mike Rogers, another passenger onboard Seabourn Spirit, was quoted as saying "the captain tried to run one of the boats (about 25 feet long) over ... the captain said he was going to do anything to keep them from getting onboard." Indeed, in a hasty statement issued by Miami-based Seabourn, it is noted that "the ship's crew immediately initiated a trained response and as a result of protective and evasive measures taken, the occupants of the small craft were unable to gain access to Seabourn Spirit. The ship has moved away from the boats and is now sailing from the area. All passengers and crew are safe." Seabourn Spirit, carrying 151 passengers and 161 crew members, was on its way to Mombasa, the last stop on a 16 night cruise from Alexandria, Egypt. As a result of the incident, however, the ship sailed away from Africa and is now headed for an unplanned visit to the Seychelles where passengers will disembark. While reports of pirates and banditry are more common than you’d think in waters off of Indonesia (and typically are directed towards cargo rather than cruise ships), the United Nations did warn last week that its World Food Programme, which was trying to deliver food to Somalia, had been frustrated all fall by hijackings that restricted its efforts and called the southern Somali coastline one of the world's most dangerous. This incident is likely to have a chilling impact on cruises to this part of Africa. Folks who have booked trips there may want to check with cruise lines, such as Princess, Peter Deilmann and Silversea, which all plan to offer trips that call in this part of the continent, in the coming weeks regarding itinerary changes.