Italian Cruise Ship Msc Melody Fends off a Pirate Attack off Somalia Coast

The Somalia pirates are at it again, this time they attack the Italian Cruise ship Msc Melody. Private security guards on board an Italian cruise ship fired shots and used water hoses to fend off Somalia pirates late Saturday.

An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits.

Six men in a small, white Zodiac-type boat approached the Msc Melody at about 1730 GMT Saturday and opened fire with automatic weapons, Msc Cruises director Domenico Pellegrino said. They retreated after the security officers returned fire and sprayed them with water hoses. The ship continued its journey with its windows darkened.

“It felt like we were in war,” the ships commander, Ciro Pinto, told Italian state radio.

Six pirates in a small, white Zodiac-type boat approached the Msc Melody Saturday night at about 1730 GMT firing their AK-47s and trying to fix a ladder to the side of the ship. The pirates were fended off by a team of Israeli guards hired by the vessel’s owners who fired back with pistols and sprayed the attackers with fire hoses.  None of the passengers aboard the cruise ship were injured.

“They tried to put up a ladder with hooks. They were climbing up, so we reacted. We started firing. When they saw us firing – we even sprayed them with water with the fire-hose – they gave up and went off.”

The pirates chased the 670ft-long ship for another 20 minutes, firing at it constantly. Part of the vessel was slightly damaged during the raid, in the Indian Ocean 200 miles north of the Seychelles and about 500 miles east of the Somali coast.

Italian cruise ship fends off pirates with gunfire