Pirates pursue Cruise Ship

It has been reported that pirates pursued the Cruise Ship Spirit of Adventure whilst she was sailing across the Indian Ocean.

Passengers were peacefully enjoying a black tie dinner when they were ordered to take shelter below deck as a speed boat drew alongside carrying what were thought to be pirates. The Spirit of Adventure is operated by SAGA, one of the U.K.’s major Cruise Lines.

She was on her way from Madagascar to Zanzibar at the time of the incident which is reported to have lasted an hour.

The ship’s Captain cruised at full speed and eventually the questionable vessel moved on. A SAGA spokesman mentioned “We think it was scouting out the ship. Usually pirates are not interested in passenger ships but in cargo ones (that) have a higher value."

Passenger Susie Brown of Enford recalls "We were eating dinner and then ordered below deck ... we were told to keep our heads down in case they shot us through the windows."

Several Cruise Lines have cancelled voyages across the Indian Ocean due to growing concern over increasingly brazen attacks of ships sailing through the region. In 2009 MSC Cruises MSC Melody was attacked by pirates who fired upon the vessel with automatic weapons as they attempted to board. MSC quickly dropped voyages through the area.