# The cruise ship M/S Nautica out ran pirate speedboats...how fast can it go? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379 "2008-12-02T19:36:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/21 "2008-12-03T18:47:33Z")
I’m thinking that the “outran” part is somewhat misstated, and that instead they “ran towards military vessels”, at which time the pirates said “Hey, look at the time… gotta go.” The pirates may have been firing, but hitting the broad side of a cruise ship from the back of a bouncy speed boat is all they’re likely to do, and handgun bullets aren’t likely to bother a cruise ship much. So long as the people on the ship kept their heads down, they were probably fairly safe. It’s not like you can shoot out the tires, after all. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/22 "2008-12-03T18:55:33Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > The pirates did fire on the ship. Pirates are often on board before the crew are aware, so it’s certain not the case that the ship has to stop. This is largely because cargo vessels are usually operated with reduced crews to keep costs down, so there aren’t usually enough hands to maintain anti-piracy watches. I’d be very unsurprised to find that the _Nautica_ had watches that gave her enough warning to escape. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/23 "2008-12-04T03:56:36Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Many modern commercial vessels have the throttles under direct bridge control, so this isn’t totally correct. Certainly I think there’s no way you could override the governors from the bridge, so I agree with you to that extent. That is a remote throttle and it is limited to the max allowable turns as set by the governing authority. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/24 "2008-12-04T04:57:13Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > How hard would it be to actually board a cruise ship that’s going 23 knots? Don’t these ships pretty much have to stop for the pirates to board them? I thought their modus operandi was to motor up next to a ship and threaten it with RPGs and machine gun fire if it didn’t stop so they could board. . That’s how I read the story. It woud be like trying to board a train moving at 27 mph with the addition of having to deal with waves. I would love to see a well crewed vessel attack the pirates with small arms fire and molitov cocktails. given the height of ships it would be like trying to storm a castle. If you can tag a pirate boat with a flamable object their efforts would be diverted to survival. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/25 "2008-12-04T05:15:51Z")
I think it’s high time we update and revive the delightful concept of Q-ships: [Q-ship - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_ship) Mwahahahahahahahaha… ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/26 "2008-12-04T05:36:45Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > The fastest cruze ship was the SS United States. She was a regulated ship her full speed was around 34 Knotts. But in war time extra nozzles could be open and her design max speed was reported over 40 Knotts. Until around 1971 her hull and engineroom were clasififed. [emphasis mine] What’s with all this “was” stuff? She’s docked right down the road from me. Across from Ikea. She looks like shit. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/27 "2008-12-04T05:46:50Z")
They need to equip ships with those microwave thingies that seem like very effective deterrents. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/28 "2008-12-04T06:00:44Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > That is a remote throttle and it is limited to the max allowable turns as set by the governing authority. Or in other words, what I said. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379/29 "2008-12-04T06:52:40Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > [emphasis mine] > > What’s with all this “was” stuff? She’s docked right down the road from me. Across from Ikea. She looks like shit. [/hijack] She is not sailing at present and she is no longer classified. Although I doubt the ABS would allow them to run wide open. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cruise-ship-m-s-nautica-out-ran-pirate-speedboats-how-fast-can-it-go/475379.md?page=1)