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STATEMENT ON ATTEMPTED ACT OF PIRACY
Miami, FL, November 20, 2008 – On November 30, 2008, at approximately 0928 local time, 0528 GMT, M/S NAUTICA was transiting through the Gulf of Aden within the prescribed Maritime Safety Protection Area which is patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces. As the vessel sailed past several groups of non-hostile fishing vessels, two small skiffs were sighted by the Officer on Duty and deemed potentially hostile. The skiffs, approaching from a range of approximately 1000 meters, attempted to intercept the vessel’s course. Captain Jurica Brajcic and his officers immediately began evasive maneuvers and took all prescribed precautions. NAUTICA was immediately brought to flank speed and was able to out run the two skiffs. One of the skiffs did manage to close the range to approximately 300 yards and fired eight rifle shots in the direction of the vessel before trailing off. No one aboard NAUTICA was harmed and no damage was sustained.
All guests and crew onboard are safe and there were no injuries. All requisite international authorities have been notified and all anti-piracy precautions were in place prior to the event and all necessary measures were taken during the event.

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Best,

How about getting destroyers into the area and open fire on anything that is armed. US navy has destroyers that can use helicopters to fire hellfire missiles onto pirate boats. The US navy also has latest version phalanx machine guns capable of fireing 3000+ rnds/min onto surface targets.

Oceania ship fends off piracy attempt
30/11/2008
Two small skiffs pursued Oceania Cruises’ Nautica and one fired eight rifle shots during the vessel’s transit of the Gulf of Aden this morning. The ship took evasive action and no one aboard was harmed, with no damage sustained, according to the company.
‘Eight shots were fired and none hit the ship. The closest the pirates ever got to the vessel was 300 meters,’ Oceania president Bob Binder told Seatrade Insider.

Nautica was sailing within the prescribed Maritime Safety Protection Area which is patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces. As the vessel passed several groups of fishing vessels, two small skiffs were sighted by the officer on duty and deemed potentially hostile.

The skiffs, approaching from a range of approximately 1,000 meters, attempted to intercept the vessel’s course. Capt. Jurica Brajcic and his officers began evasive maneuvers, bringing Nautica to flank speed and outrunning the skiffs.

Binder said the incident began at 0528 GMT (9:28 a.m.) and all written reports to the requisite authorities were filed by 0543 GMT. ‘The entire incident was five to seven minutes because in 15 minutes, reports were filed so it was very brief,’ he told Seatrade Insider.

The Maritime Safety Protection Area is eight miles wide and 550 miles long. ‘When the incident occurred, we were offshore by quite a distance,’ Binder said.

Some of the passengers were aware that something was happening, he told Seatrade Insider.

‘All the ship’s officers acted according to their piracy protection training and that worked perfectly. There were no injuries to guests or crew,’ Binder said.

Nautica is proceeding to its next port of call, Salalah, Oman, and is due to arrive on Monday as scheduled.

Last April, pirates off the coast of Somalia hijacked French sail-cruiser Le Ponant, which was deadheading from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean. The 30 crew were ultimately released, unharmed, and some of the pirates were arrested.

And the innocent women and children killed by the bombs dropped ? Phalanx guns are effective, unfortunately they have yet to learn the difference between a fisherman in a fishing boat and a pirate in a fishing boat. Of course the hundreds of hostages currently held by the pirates would also probably meet an unpleasent end as well.

I assume this monsterous action would have to be undertaken by other navies as the Australian Navy is taking the month of December off in order to be more family friendly.

This type of action would only make a mess worse.

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Originally posted by mike sa:
Maersk have already stopped sending any vessels through the area and instead all are now using the Cape route refuelling in Durban or Cape Town as required. No targets = no hijacks.

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Not quite, see Sirius Star. The pirates will move operation to where the targets are.

Bombing is however not the answer. More innocent people would get killed than pirates. Top speed and vigilance as per Nautica. Might have been better if she was doing full speed initially, no-one knows. Lumbering tankers and cargo ships with minimal crew are far more at risk than crowded cruises ships. The pirates will attempt anything if desperate.

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Originally posted by Sutho:

How about getting destroyers into the area and open fire on anything that is armed. US navy has destroyers that can use helicopters to fire hellfire missiles onto pirate boats. The US navy also has latest version phalanx machine guns capable of fireing 3000+ rnds/min onto surface targets.

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The US to the rescue huh? Remember our country is broke and we are in dire straits. I don't think we can afford to send a destroyer to defend shipping lanes from pirates.

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Originally posted by Sutho:
[....]

How about getting destroyers into the area and open fire on anything that is armed. US navy has destroyers that can use helicopters to fire hellfire missiles onto pirate boats. [...]

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Originally posted by WhiteStar:
They put sky marshals on planes how about 5 or 6 armed security guards on cruise ships? Give them m16's or AK47's

Reed

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The Australians have 8 Anzac class Frigates and only 4 of the US Oliver Hazard Perry class Frigates left in service.

After the USS Cole was attacked they changed the system of the MK10 Close in Weapons System known as the phalank which fires 20mm rounds. This weapon is so reliable that in hot pursuit of a pirate speed boat it will blow it out of the water.

You cant re route the ships because the Pirates got the Sirius Star over 300km out to sea in the Indian Ocean and not in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates are using ships to tow them out to sea and then they get in their speed boats and attack.

The only way of stopping them is to spy on them gather intelligence and blow all their mother ships out of the water.

I am aware the Australian Navy closed down for Christmas. That is a first. Personally I would rather have them all deployed to areas like that to protect shipping. They signed up to serve and that is what they should do.

The British Royal Navy is another one that could be there.

US/UK/NATO etc have all said that there is no military solution available.

Another solutuion would to designate shipping muster stations at sea and all ships wishing to transit are to meet at stations and form a convoy and transit with the escort of a few warships. It can be easily timed to have ships meet at dusk and dawn for transits in each direction and have them wait on station for start time and have a warship escort them.

I have sailed to Salalah in Oman and also to Egypt and they are fabulous places to visit. I dont think our freedoms to travel should be stopped by pirates.

It is the countrys with naval ships that should put a stop to it to protect shipping. It is our trade and goods that need to be protected as well. If ships have to re route then the cost goes up as well as the cost of the imports to sell.

That is horrific. To even think it is unacceptable.

And the hundreds or even thousands of innocent people murdered by these high explosive bombs don't count then ? Because they are only African and poor ?

And were those military forces to enact your idea those "innocent" people you claim have rights to travel etc would be party to one of the world's worst mass murders in history. I suspect that most normal people will be happy to avoid travelling in that area until the issue is resolved rather than be party to a war crime.

Comparing them to the Japanese in WW2 only shows a total misunderstanding and/or total ignorance of what is happening in Somalia and frankly insults the efforts of the Allies during that period. You are up against a few well financed renegade "warlords" not a country. The whole problem started with fishing rights, dumping and territorial waters etc.

I repeat, NATO etc have already said there is NO military solution possible, I assume their collective military experience is somewhat greater than yours. Thank goodness they are also more sane.

[ 12-02-2008: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Pirates can be very, very brutal and violent and it is actually considered to be crucial for survival not to fight the pirates as soon as they made it aboard. I don't want to know what would happen if pirates expected weapons aboard a vessel first place.

[ 12-02-2008: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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How would pirates get aboard a moving cruise ship from one of their dingys. I was in the service and could hit a moving target at 300 yards. Their only hope would be to do a suicide bombing...but then that's not what the pirates do. It's not like they could sneek up on a ship in the middle of the ocean without anyone noticing. The only way they MIGHT be able to disable a ship would be with a RPG but a competent captain could still ram their boat.