Pirates fire at luxury liner
A British tourist described last night the horrifying moment when he realised his luxury cruise line was under gun and grenade attack from pirates, 100 miles off the coast of Somalia.
“I heard what sounded like a crack from outside [the ship] at 5.50am,” said Norman Fisher, 55, a solicitor from north London, one of 20 Britons on board the Seabourn Spirit which was carrying 312 passengers and crew.
“I looked out the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it, about 20 yards away. Two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher. They were firing the rifle and then they fired the rocket launcher twice.”
Mr Fisher said that at least one rocket hit the Spirit, one of the most luxurious liners in the world. The rocket broke through the side of the liner into a passenger’s suite.
“The couple were in there at the time, so it was a bit of an unpleasant experience,” said Mr Fisher. “Fortunately they weren’t hurt, but you can just imagine what it would have been like if they had been standing up, because the cabin was very badly damaged.”
