Islamist pirates attempted to hijack an American cruise liner in the Gulf of Aden earlier today. Fortunately the cruise ship outran the pirates but not before they opened fire on the ship.
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. …
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.
Hattip: Hotair
Also this:
Top 10 clues your cruise ship has been taken over by pirates.
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