Cruise ship fends off pirate attack

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By Nicole Winfield ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROME (AP) -- An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away.

The ship's commander told Italian state radio on Sunday that six men in a small white speed boat approached the Msc Melody and opened fire "like crazy" on Saturday night, but retreated after the Israeli security officers aboard the cruise ship returned fire.

"It felt like we were in war," Cmdr. Ciro Pinto said.

None of the roughly 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members were hurt, Melody owner Msc Cruises said in a statement issued by its German branch.

Domenico Pellegrino, head of the Italian cruise line, said Msc Cruises hired the Israelis because they were the best-trained security agents, the ANSA news agency reported.

The attack occurred about 200 miles north of the Seychelles and about 500 miles east of Somalia, according to the anti-piracy flotilla headquarters of the Maritime Security Center Horn of Africa.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, noted that the distance from the Somali coast was a sign of the pirates' increasing skill and a "definite shift in their tactical capabilities."

"It's not unheard of to have attacks off the coast of the Seychelles -- we've even had some in the past month," he said. "But at the same time, it is a sign that they are moving further and further off the Somali coast."

Separately on Sunday morning, the Turkish cruiser Ariva 3, with two British and four Japanese crew aboard, survived a pirate attack near the Yemeni island of Jabal Zuqar, said Ali el-Awlaqi, head of the Yemeni El-Awlaqi Marine company said.

"Pirates opened fire at the cruise ship for 15 minutes, then stopped for no reason," he said, adding that the cruiser was heading to Aden, Yemen, to fix a broken engine.