# Blackbeard vs a cruise ship revisited **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678 "2005-11-05T18:56:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/1 "2005-11-05T18:56:28Z")
Well apparently saturday there was an unsuccessful attempt to board the [Seaborne Spirit](http://www.cruiseweb.com/SEABOURN-SPIRIT.HTM) by pirates off the coast of Somalia. One crewmember injured, all passengers safe, minor damage to ship from RPG and machine gun fire. Just thought it interesting since we were didcussing piracy and cruise ships a few months back [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=307689&highlight=ship+hijack) Glad to see that even the smaller cruise ships are able to fend for themselves out there. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/2 "2005-11-05T19:43:49Z")
I thought it was cool that the Captain tried to run over one of the pirate ships. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/3 "2005-11-05T19:55:06Z")
Do cruise ships have any kind of arms on board? I would think a ship of this size would at least have a rifle or two in a locker somewhere. Seems like pirates in little speedboats would be easy to pick off from the height of a cruise ship deck. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/4 "2005-11-06T00:56:44Z")
What was a cruise ship doing off the coast of Somalia? Did Carnival already have the Ethiopian route tied up? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/5 "2005-11-06T01:14:43Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > What was a cruise ship doing off the coast of Somalia? Did Carnival already have the Ethiopian route tied up? The weird thing is that that’s actually a damned good question. These are the most dangerous waters in the world for pirates. Just last month there was an incident where Somali pirates were holding a freighter hostage. WTF were they doing in those waters? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/6 "2005-11-06T02:35:38Z")
Well that link just had stuff about the marble bathrooms. Here’s a link to the [article.](http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article325171.ece) It’s not clear why they were in those waters, although it did say they were headed to the Seychelles. The article mentioned the increase in piracy around Somalia. It also mentioned the marble bathrooms, BTW. I didn’t need the Robin Leach part there. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/7 "2005-11-06T03:07:54Z")
They were headed from Alexandria to Mombasa. Somalia’s kind of hard to totally avoid, and they were more than seventy miles from shore. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/8 "2005-11-06T03:31:32Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Do cruise ships have any kind of arms on board? Unlikely. The IMO really frowns on having guns aboard ships, but ultimately that decision belongs to the flag administration of the ship. As ships travel from country to country, you can see where this may be problematic. I’ve heard of only two countries that arm their civilian ships - the Russians and Israelis. Oddly, I just read somewhere that this particular ship is US flagged. The US doesn’t flag many cruise ships; I thought there were only 2. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/9 "2005-11-06T03:32:50Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The weird thing is that that’s actually a damned good question. What, it’s weird that _I_ could ask a good question? Okay, I know it’s true. I’ve made peace with it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/10 "2005-11-07T00:28:31Z")
Did I read correctly: they used SOUND to thwart their attackers? If so, cool. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/11 "2005-11-07T00:46:07Z")
Can’t you just see it? _Captain Stubing: We’re under attack! Bartender Isaac: C’mon, Gopher-let’s go kick some ass!_ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackbeard-vs-a-cruise-ship-revisited/329678/12 "2005-11-07T06:46:39Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Do cruise ships have any kind of arms on board? I would think a ship of this size would at least have a rifle or two in a locker somewhere. Seems like pirates in little speedboats would be easy to pick off from the height of a cruise ship deck. Normally the main arnament against pirates now a days , is the ships fire hose. What was interesting is that these speed boats should never have made it out that far ,and they suggest that there is a mothership nearby. So its either a very sophisitcated pirate operation , or thats a commerce raider. Declan