Avoiding Somali pirates means cruise lines reroute

On 25 April 2009, MSC Melody was attacked by armed pirates in a small speedboat as it travelled across the Indian Ocean near the Seychelles Islands. This was around 700 miles from the coast of Somalia, from where the pirates originated. From now on, MSC has decided, it will not sail even that close to the Somali coast, instead it will take a different route around Africa in future.

The region was been troubled for a while, and it’s not a high traffic route for cruise ships, probably only a couple of dozen make that particular transit every year, which, paradoxically, makes each ship much more of a target. Seabourn has already said that it’s considering avoiding the highest risk area—the Gulf of Aden—in future, even though it’s the simplest journey between the popular island groups of the Seychelles and the Maldives. Regent Seven Seas, on the other hand, is going to sail the route this autumn on a cruise that takes travels from Athens to Dubai.