Cruise line to fly passengers over pirate dangers
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A German cruise liner has said that it plans to fly its passengers over the Gulf of Aden, rather than risking an attack from Somali pirates, CNN has reported.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said all 246 passengers and most of the crew aboard the MS Columbus, currently at the start of an around-the-world cruise, will disembark at an undisclosed port, then fly to Dubai to continue their journey. The company called the move a precautionary measure.
The decision follows the recent unsuccessful hijacking attempt on a US-based cruise liner. The Nautica cruise ship, operated by Oceania Cruises, was reported by CNN to have come under attack from pirates in the Gulf of Aden, but managed to outmanoeuvre the pirates. The ship was carrying 690 passengers and 386 crew at the time of the incident.
Pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia hit the news this year, with the increasingly brazen pirates choosing ever larger targets. CNN reports the International Maritime Bureau as saying that almost 100 vessels have been attacked off Somalia’s coast, with 40 being successfully hijacked.
So far no cruise liner has been successfully hijacked, but with pirates regularly taking passengers and crew of hijacked ships hostage in northern Somalia, the consequences of an attack on a large cruise liner would be catastrophic.
Hapag-Lloyd said a general travel warning for the area, issued by the German Foreign Ministry, played a part in the decision. But the company also said it had asked the German government for naval protection and the request was turned down. The MS Columbus began its world cruise 28 November in Genoa, Italy and is due in Dubai on 17 December, the report said. Further stops include Singapore, Bali, Indonesia and Sydney, Australia.
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