Pirates of the Somali Coast

As exciting as it may be to see pirates on the silver screen or read about them in the pages of a book, I wouldn't dare wish to see one in real life. Luckily the crew and passengers of the "Spirit," a ship operated by the Seaborn Cruise Lines, managed to escape the pirate attack early Saturday morning off the Somali coast.  The pirates sprayed bullets from machine-guns and had rocket propelled grenades on board the two boats manned with about five people each. Though they caused some minor damage like certain parts of the ship being without water and with belief that one of the grenades may have gone off in one of the cabins, everyone on board is fine according to this CNN piece. Passengers on board were from the U.S., Canada, Australia as well as South Africa. Whew!

Additionally, the United Nations' World Food Program has reported pirate hijackings on two vessels carrying relief food to areas in need of food assistance. Apparently ship owners are requesting armed escorts to travel off the dangerous coast. Can't blame them. Eeek!

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