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Pirates attempt to hijack US cruise ship, fire 8 shots at MS Nautica

by Tina Kells | December 2, 2008 at 10:44 am

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Pirates in the Gulf of Aden fired 8 shots on a cruise ship in a failed hijacking attempt Tuesday. Pirates have been making headlines in recent months for hijacking oil tankers and other commercial shipping vessels off the coast of Somalia but now pirates appear to be shifting their targets to include civilian cruise ships.

Reports from the Gulf of Aden state that pirates attempted to hijack the Oceania cruise ship MS Nautica, a 1000 passenger vessel. The Nautica has 399 crew and 656 international passengers on board, most of the passengers are Americans. The hijacking was unsuccessful but the trend toward pirates attacking civilian pleasure crafts is alarming.

Pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise liner with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along a corridor patrolled by international warships, a maritime official said Tuesday.

The liner, carrying 656 international passengers and 399 crew members, was sailing through the Gulf of Aden on Sunday when it encountered six bandits in two speedboats, said Noel Choong who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

The pirates fired at the passenger liner but the larger boat was faster than the pirates' vessels, Choong said.

"It is very fortunate that the liner managed to escape," he said, urging all ships to remain vigilant in the area.

The International Maritime Bureau, which fights maritime crime, did not know how many cruise liners use these waters.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it was aware of the failed hijacking but had no further details.

Ship owner Oceania Cruises Inc. identified the vessel as the M/S Nautica.

In a statement on its Web site, the company said pirates fired eight rifle shots at the liner, but that the ship's captain increased speed and managed to outrun the skiffs.

All passengers and crew are safe and there was no damage to the vessel, it said.

The Nautica was on a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore, with stops at ports in Italy, Egypt, Oman, Dubai, India, Malaysia and Thailand, the Web site said. Based on that schedule, the liner was headed from Egypt to Oman when it was attacked.