Italian Cruise Ship Repels Pirates
By Wyatt Earp | April 27, 2009
Of course it did. Everyone on board was armed with at least a .22!
The captain of an Italian cruise ship foiled an attack by pirates off the coast of Somalia on Saturday by ordering his security crew to fire back, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.
Six armed pirates in a speedboat attacked the ship, which had about 1,500 people onboard, ANSA said. They fled after the security crew fired back.
The cruise ship Melody, which is owned by an Italian company, was on its way back to Italy after a cruise, ANSA said.
No one was injured in the attack about 180 miles north of the Seychelles. (H/T – CNN)
ANSA reported that as the pirates retreated, the Melody’s captain yelled, “I got enough to worry about getting whacked on the street! I gotta come home for this! I should f**king kill you!”
Topics: Coolness! | 10 Comments »
April 27th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
OK, let me get this straight. Shooting at the pirates made them flee? Pirates are afraid of getting shot? Wow, so arming a ship’s crew works. Who knew? Ingenious. Somebody needs to let the U.N. in on this.
April 27th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
From what I understand, the ship had an armed security detail, made up either completely or primarily of Israelis, on board. They were the ones who opened fire on the pirates, not the passengers.
Still, it’s nice to know that at least somebody has the right idea on how to deal with pirates.
April 27th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
But, but, that’s so MEAN! These poor pirates are just trying to make a decent living! If only their country had a leader who could just give them everything they wanted …
April 27th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Shame they don’t arm their security with RPG’s… they coulda given their guests aboard a bonus show – fireworks.
April 27th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Good deal. Only sorry that they didn’t hit every pirate who tried to take over the ship.
And Smite A. Hippie – an RPG would have been freaking beautiful. Blow those bastards right out of the water.
If it keeps happening enough times (being shot at), hopefully it’ll sink into those morons heads and they’ll stop trying to take over something that doesn’t belong to them.
April 27th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Wonder if the skeet guns on the Melody are actually luparas…?
…And wouldn’t it be great if a group of wealthy, heavily-armed citizens could book a cruise liner for a pirate safari? “No bag limit, and we’ll retrieve your trophies for you, but mounting them is entirely up to you…”
April 27th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
John D – They’ll never allow it . . . it makes too much sense!
Raptor – That is fantastic. Good for them!
Doghouse – Like rainbows and unicorns?
Smite – With margaritas, half price!
Daisy – Hell, Somalians have been killing people for decades. It’s all they know.
Wes S – I’m not wealthy, but can I sign on?
April 27th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Wyatt, maybe a bunch of us could pool our money. How much does it cost to charter a cruise ship, anyway?
April 27th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Wes – That is an AWESOME idea. Sooooo much potential for fun on that… and in international waters… no restrictions or bans that you’d have here by the ATF and certain states.
I could totally envision Ted Nugent mowing down a pirate boat with a Dillon Aero from the deck heh.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
The Englishman has asked for suggestions as to what sporting guns one might choose to go hunting for these pirates
http://www.anenglishmanscastle.com/archives/007321.html#comments
In one of the comments “Emmett” writes:
“Well a couple of our more enthusiastic politicians have floated the idea of issuing letters of Marque and Reprisal. If you got one of those for a cruise ship you could get your money up front from passengers who wanted to do some sea hunting. The cheapest fare would be for those who brought their own ammo and weapon. Higher fare would be for those who wanted access to mounted weapons. Group rates for teams on the larger crew served stuff. I suppose for the younger and even more rowdy set you could organize raids on pirate ports…”
Hmm. Interesting …