Yo ho, yo ho, it’s NOT a pirate’s life for company presently onboard Cunard Line’s Queen Anne – which is in the course of her 111-night maiden world cruise.
Nevertheless, the 2024-launched cruise ship did get an (uneventful) style of the pirate life whereas crusing within the Sulu Sea on March 14-15, 2025, which is situated throughout the Philippine Archipelago.
As these waters are recognized to have lively pirate exercise, together with acts of terrorism and kidnappings for ransom, Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge issued a warning out of an abundance of warning and knowledgeable as much as 2,996 passengers onboard of elevated safety precautions.
“This space is understood for piracy threats…Due to this fact, we can be working at a heightened stage of safety alertness throughout this era,” Captain Thorhauge’s announcement started.
One such precaution was that the exterior promenade deck was closed in a single day from 9 p.m. till 5 a.m. native time on the night time of March 14 till the morning of March 15 – as company can be safer in the event that they have been already inside within the unlikely occasion of an emergency.
The ship’s exterior lighting was additionally decreased to the naked minimal and company have been requested to maintain their curtains closed of their staterooms and switch off or dim their lights.
These actions make it tougher for pirates to identify and board the ship, and likewise protect the crew member’s night time imaginative and prescient capabilities.
After giving a run down of what the emergency protocol would appear to be if pirates did method, Captain Thorhauge reassured cruisers that this was fairly unlikely and that their security was her high precedence.
“I want to emphasize that the protection and safety of the ship, all company, and crew onboard is my highest precedence. I guarantee you that measures to forestall any unlikely incident have been properly deliberate, and the chance of this taking place on an enormous ship like Queen Anne is completely minimal,” she continued.
As anticipated, this portion of the voyage – which was a part of how the 113,000-gross ton ship made her approach from Darwin, Australia, to Manila, Philippines – unfolded with out incident.
She is now carrying onto locations all through Asia, South Africa, the Canary Islands, England, and Germany earlier than all segments of the world voyage conclude in Europe by April 28, 2025.
Are Pirates an Concern for Cruise Ships?
In case you are cruising within the close to characteristic, a possible pirate invasion is extremely unlikely and ought to be very low in your listing of doable issues.
Actually, the final pirate assaults on cruise ships occurred greater than a decade in the past and weren’t profitable.
The newest of those was on Saga Cruises’ Spirit of Journey when she was crusing within the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa in 2011. On this case, the ship elevated its pace, and the pirates gave up after they realized they couldn’t catch up.
In April of 2009, MSC Cruises’ MSC Melody escaped a possible assault within the Indian Ocean by enacting evasive maneuvers that concerned creating giant waves.
As cruise ship wakes can do a quantity on smaller vessels with out attempting, the deliberate maneuver achieved a profitable consequence in only a matter of minutes.
The final vital assault within the trendy period was on Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Spirit (now renamed as Star Breeze for Windstar Cruises) when she was crusing off the coast of Somalia, East Africa, in November of 2005.
Whilst a smaller vessel with a capability for 312 passengers, the as much as 164 crew members have been capable of fend off the pirates utilizing evasive maneuvers and a long-range acoustic system.
Learn Additionally: From Mishaps to Maydays – Cruise Ship Accidents
Though encountering pirates is extremely unlikely, the crew members are nonetheless educated to reply appropriately with a view to hold everybody secure in an “anticipate the sudden” technique.
“We practice for these conditions lengthy earlier than crusing by means of high-risk areas. Cruise ships have much more on board than water weapons. Pirates are after cargo and fishing vessels with small crews—not a cruise ship with 1000’s of passengers,” an nameless deck officer said.
Certainly, trendy cruise ships are outfitted with educated safety personnel, safety cameras, water cannons, and sound-based deterrents.
When cruise traces know one among their ships can be crusing by means of a excessive danger area, they typically improve patrols and surveillance measures, and acquire safety escorts – generally from the army.
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