01 December 2008

Oceania ship fends off piracy attempt

Seatrade Insider reports that two small skiffs pursued Oceania CruisesÃ¢â¬â¢ Nautica and one fired eight rifle shots during the vesselÃ¢â¬â¢s transit of the Gulf of Aden this morning.

The ship took evasive action and no one aboard was harmed, with no damage sustained, according to the company.

"Eight shots were fired and none hit the ship". "The closest the pirates ever got to the vessel was 300 meters," Oceania president Bob Binder told Seatrade Insider.

Nautica was sailing within the prescribed Maritime Safety Protection Area which is patrolled by international anti-piracy task forces. As the vessel passed several groups of fishing vessels, two small skiffs were sighted by the officer on duty and deemed potentially hostile.

The skiffs, approaching from a range of approximately 1,000 meters, attempted to intercept the vesselÃ¢â¬â¢s course.

Capt. Jurica Brajcic and his officers began evasive maneuvers, bringing Nautica to flank speed and outrunning the skiffs.

Binder said the incident began at 0528 GMT (9:28 a.m.) and all written reports to the requisite authorities were filed by 0543 GMT.

"The entire incident was five to seven minutes because in 15 minutes, reports were filed so it was very brief," he told Seatrade Insider.

The Maritime Safety Protection Area is eight miles wide and 550 miles long.

"When the incident occurred, we were offshore by quite a distance," Binder said.

Some of the passengers were aware that something was happening, he told Seatrade Insider.

"All the shipÃ¢â¬â¢s officers acted according to their piracy protection training and that worked perfectly." "There were no injuries to guests or crew," Binder said.

Nautica is proceeding to its next port of call, Salalah, Oman, and is due to arrive on Monday as scheduled.

Last April, pirates off the coast of Somalia hijacked French sail-cruiser Le Ponant, which was deadheading from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean. The 30 crew were ultimately released, unharmed, and some of the pirates were arrested.

In 2005, Seabourn Spirit sustained shots from pirates in two small vessels off the Somali coast. The ship took evasive action, and there were no injuries.

A Report by The Mole