SOMALIA (7 Nov 2005) -- A violent attack on a luxury cruise liner off the coast of Somalia demonstrates that pirates from the country are becoming bolder and more ambitious in their efforts to hijack ships for ransom and valuables, a maritime official said yesterday. Three Scots were among 21 Britons who came under attack when two pirate boats approached the US-owned Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somalian coast. They fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles while heavily armed bandits tried to get on board. The ship escaped by moving to high speed and changing course. One crew member suffered slight injuries in the early- morning attack. A maritime union has said the Somalian coast, which lies along key shipping lanes linking the Mediterranean with the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, should be declared a war zone. Allison Allan, 32, a singer on the liner, her fiance John Lygate, 40, from Glasgow, the ship's pianist, and another Scot were among 161 crew and 151 tourists on board the 10,000- tonne ship on Saturday when the attack took place. Bruce Good, spokesman for the Seabourn Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival based in Miami, said the passengers, mostly Americans, with some Australians and Europeans, were gathered in a lounge for safety and no-one was injured. Ms Allan said: "The most terrifying thing was sitting in the restaurant trying to keep as quiet as possible. We could hear a lot of banging on deck and thought the pirates had got on board. "Most people were very confused . . . the passengers were all very scared but their spirits have lifted a bit since." Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, said the location of the attack suggested the pirates were likely to have been from a group that hijacked a United Nations-chartered vessel in June and held its crew and food aid hostage for 100 days. | | That group, led by Mohamed Abdi Hassan and a warlord nicknamed Dhagweyne, is one of three well-organised bands operating from Somalia's 1880-mile coastline, which is the longest in Africa. Several other bands are also in the country, according to Mr Mwangura. He said Somalian pirates were trained fighters with maritime knowledge. They identify their targets by listening to the international radio channel used by ships at sea. Mr Mwangura added: "Sometimes they trick the mariners by pretending that they have a problem and they should come to assist them. They send bogus distress signals. They are getting more powerful, more vicious and bolder, day by day." Andrew Linnington, a spokesman for Numast, the Merchant Navy officers' union, said urgent talks would be held with shipowners in London this week to discuss the problem of Somalia, which he claimed was close to being out of control. He said the seas off Somalia, which has had no government since 1991, had been the scene of 23 reported attacks since March this year, including two UN relief ships. He said seamen would be calling for the declaration of war because it would entitle them to insurance cover, danger money and the right to refuse to sail in areas notorious for pirate activity. He added: "There have been so many attacks off Somalia we are urging the war zone declaration and we are also urging the British government to do something. "We believe there should be a naval task force, particularly off Somalia, to try and stop the attacks. In the past 10 years, hundreds of seamen have been killed and thousands injured in pirate attacks across the world." "It's got to the stage where it's anarchy on the sea waves and this latest incident shows it's time governments got their acts together." SOURCE - The Herald |
