M/S Nautica Cruise Ship Outruns Pirates, Piracy FAIL

What is it with these pirates these days? The latest buccaneer target was the M/S Nautica, a US cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden. The ship was chased by two pirate speedboats, who fired eight rifle rounds at the boat, but fortunately the cruise ship was faster than the pirates and got away. Wait, that doesn’t seem right. What the hell kind of “speed”boats were the pirates using where they lost a race to a cruise ship?

The area is supposedly lined with international pirate-fighting warships, but it hasn’t done that much to deter piracy:

International warships patrol the area and have created a security corridor in the region under a U.S.-led initiative, but the attacks have not abated.

In about 100 attacks on ships off the Somali coast this year, 40 vessels have been hijacked, Choong said. Fourteen remain in the hands of pirates along with more than 250 crew members.

In two if the most daring attacks, pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter loaded with 33 battle tanks in September, and on Nov. 15, a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million worth of crude oil.

Wow so that’s like, a 40% hijack rate. Not bad pirates. So I understand oil tankers and such being attacked because they have to go through “Pirate Alley," but cruise ships? Can’t they just cut out that part of their trip until this whole pirate fad dies down a little? Well, maybe it doesn’t work like that, plus these tickets I bought for my Somali Cruise Destination Vacation appear to be non-refundable.