Piratas Atiram em Navio de Cruzeiro a 30/11/2008

"DETAILS emerged today about how an 11-deck cruise ship evaded pirates who had opened fire over the weekend in the Gulf of Aden.

Pirates started shooting on Sunday at the 684-passenger Nautica, owned by Oceania Cruises, but the vessel eluded the gunmen with no injuries reported. Oceania told Fairplay in a statement that the attack occurred at 0928 local time. “As the vessel sailed past several groups of non-hostile fishing vessels, two small skiffs were sighted by the officer on duty and deemed potentially hostile,” the company said. “The skiffs, approaching from a range of approximately 1,000m, attempted to intercept the vessel’s course. Captain Jurica Brajcic and his officers immediately began evasive manoeuvres and took all prescribed precautions. Nautica was immediately brought to flank speed [about 20kt] and was able to outrun the two skiffs. “One of the skiffs did manage to close the range to approximately 275m and fired eight rifle shots in the direction of the vessel before trailing off. No one aboard Nautica was harmed and no damage was sustained,” Oceania said. On Oceania were 47 Australians, 310 Americans, 212 Canadians and 29 UK residents, the AFP news agency reported. The ship was on a 32-night Rome/Singapore voyage. This is the third regional pirate attack on cruise ships, following the capture of the luxury sail cruiser Le Ponant in April (with 30 crew aboard but no passengers) and the November 2005 attack on the 208-passenger Seabourn Spirit (warded off by Seabourn’s sonic weapons)." Fonte: Faiplay/UK.