Cruise ship fends off pirate attack

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.

International military forces have battled pirates, with U.S. Navy snipers killing three who were holding an American captain hostage in one of the highest-profile incidents.

But 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 generally have avoided arming crewmen or hiring armed security for reasons of safety, liability and compliance with the rules of the different countries where they dock.

It was not the first attack on a cruise liner, however. In December, pirates opened fire on a U.S.-operated ship carrying hundreds of tourists on a monthlong luxury cruise from Rome to Singapore, but the cruise liner was able to outrun the pirates. In early April a tourist yacht was hijacked by Somali pirates near the Seychelles just after having dropped off its cargo of tourists.

The Melody was on a 22-day cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy, when the pirates fired “like crazy” with automatic weapons late Saturday, slightly damaging the liner, Cmdr. Pinto said. The pirates tried to put a ladder on board, but were unable to climb aboard, he said.

The commander said his security forces opened fire with pistols, and the ANSA news agency said the pistols had been kept in a safe under the joint control of the commander and security chief.

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