Pirates Attack US Cruise Ship

MIAMI (Reuters) – Pirates firing rocket-mounted grenades
and machine guns tried to board a U.S.-owned cruise ship in the Indian
Ocean on Saturday but the vessel carrying more than 300 people escaped
and no one was hurt, its owners said.

Men in two small boats approached the Seabourn Cruise Line ship Spirit
about 100 miles off the Somali coast, fired on it and sought to board
the 10,000-ton vessel in an apparent bid to rob the passengers and
crew, cruise line spokesman Bruce Good said.

"The crew responded with a trained response that they do to keep people
from getting on the ship. They managed to evade them, repel them and
keep them off the ship," Good said.

The 161-member crew gathered the 151 passengers into a central lounge
away from windows and decks during the attack, he said.

The cruise line’s president, Deborah Natansohn, told CNN that the attackers
used machine guns and rocket-mounted grenades.

from Reuters (drawing
by  S. Clay Wilson)