Real Pirates! Weekly Piracy Report!

[News Crew]

After the drama of last week, this week has seemed a bit slow, but there were a couple of incedents late in the week, one of them a sucsessful hijacking. An Italian cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers was able to fend off a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia, no injuries were reported and they sucsessfully fended off the pirates after a brief gun battle. A German cargo ship wasn't quite as lucky however. Pirates captured the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot early on Saturday in the Gulf of Aden. The cruise ship MSC Melody, which left Durban on April 17, was attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia at the weekend, but avoided capture, thanks to the heroics of the commander of the ship and security guards on board.  The 36 500 ton Melody was carrying 991 passengers and 536 crew on a three-week cruise from Durban - where it had been based - to Genoa, Italy, when it came under attack on Saturday night.  Security exchanged gunfire and used a fire hose to beat off the attack by the pirates, the commander said.  Although the actions in warding off the attackers were hailed by the vessel's owners, a maritime official sharply criticised them, saying that they had endangered the lives of the passengers, who had taken refuge in their cabins, unsure of whether they would continue the voyage as passengers or as hostages.  You can read the rest of that story HERE. (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20090427064934240C855136) HERE (http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE53O24A20090425) I have also added a story to my Pirate News! thread in the forum of a first hand account by Chief Officer Shane Murphy of the Maersk-Alabama. You can read that on page 11 HERE. (http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=12271&st=200&start=200) Read on for this weeks Weekly Piracy Report!
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