Italian 1,500 passenger cruise ship Melody was attacked by Somali Pirates after dinnertime Saturday as it sailed north of the Seychelles and about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of Somalia, according to the anti-piracy flotilla headquarters of the Maritime Security Center Horn of Africa. The Melody was traveling up Africa's east coast, from Durban, South Africa to Genoa, Italy.
The ship's Italian Commander, Ciro Pinto said the pirates fired "like crazy" with automatic weapons, slightly damaging the liner, when they approached in a small, white Zodiac-like boat.
"After about four or five minutes, they tried to put a ladder up," Pinto told Sky TG24.
According to the company's director Domenico Pellegrino, the private 6 man Israeli security force aboard the MSC Cruises ocean liner Melody returned fire on the pirates Saturday with pistols and water hoses, preventing them from boarding.
"It was an emergency operation," Pellegrino told The Associated Press. "They didn't expect such a quick response. They were surprised."
Passengers were ordered to return to their cabins and the lights on deck were switched off. The massive vessel then sailed on in darkness, eventually escorted by a Spanish warship to make sure it made it to its next port.
"It felt like we were in war," the ship's Italian Commander, Ciro Pinto, told Italian state radio. "They were starting to climb up but we reacted, we started to fire ourselves. When they saw our fire, and also the water from the water hoses that we started to spray toward the Zodiac, they left and went away ... They followed us for a bit, about 20 minutes," he said.
Pellegrino said MSC Cruises had Israeli private security forces on all their ships because they were the best. He said the pistols on board were at the discretion of the commander and the security forces.
Saturday's exchange of fire between the Melody and pirates was one of the first reported between pirates and a nonmilitary ship. Civilian shipping and passenger ships have generally avoided arming crewmen or hiring armed security.
Huh?
Why would anyone go near that area of the world unarmed?
On second thought,why would anyone go anywhere unarmed?
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