Cruise ship repels pirate attack

A cruise ship has come under attack from Somali pirates off the coast of Oman. A security team on board Azamara Journey is reported to have fired flares to ward off threatening approaches from two boats, which eventually turned away.
The incident happened about 15 nautical miles off the coast of the island of Masirah, in the Arabian Sea, on the edge of the area patrolled by an international armada of naval protection vessels.
Two skiffs, a popular choice of vessel for pirates operating in the region, were seen approaching Journey on Friday. Each was carrying three or four men.
One boat veered away when two flares were fired towards it. A third flare was fired from the stern of the cruise ship at the second boat, which also aborted its approach, according to a report from monitoring organisation OceanusLive, which says the cruise ship was approached “in an aggressive manner.”.
One of the 650 passengers on board Journey is also reported to have posted details of the incident on Facebook.
Cynthia Martinez, director of Global Corporate Communications for Azamara’s parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises, said: “The captain took precautionary measures, which included asking that guests move to the interior areas of the ship, as well as evasive manoeuvres.”
She added that ships take “certain precautions and additional preparations, including extra lookouts in place around the ship,” when sailing near the Gulf of Aden. “Our crew members, security teams and procedures are capable of responding to a wide variety of challenges, and we are always well-prepared.”
Azamara Journey left Athens on November 14 and is due to reach Mumbai on Wednesday. After passing through the Suez Canal, the ship had seven straight days at sea – through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden – before arriving at Muscat, Oman, on Saturday.