The first reported pirate attack off the coast of Somalia (Country Report) against a civilian cruise liner last week (Terrorist Incident forthcoming) has a number of interesting features. Although much of the attack profile is consistent with the 25+ other attacks in the region in 2005, the results were hearteningly different. The attacks were initially thought to be conducted by terrorists or bandits, but increasingly, analysts believe they were the work of rival Somali warlord factions. The net effect is a severe disruption of regional shipping despite the apparent introduction of the latest generation of technological counter-measures.

The targeted passenger cruise ship Seabourn Spirit is a Bahamian-registered ship owned by Seabourn Cruise Line ? a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. At least two speedboats approached the passenger liner 100 miles off the Somali coast at 5:30am local time on November 5, 2005, firing rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) for nearly one hour. The Seabourn Spirit sustained at least three RPG hits and damage from numerous bullet holes. Most of the 302 passengers and crew were ordered into the dining and other halls in the center of the ship while the captain deployed a new Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) and conducted evasive maneuvers before finally outrunning the pirates. A US Coast Guard team was dispatched to Seychelles where the ship finally landed on November 7, 2005 and determined none of the RPG ordnance lodged in the walls posed a threat.