Pirates

I am a little surprised at the news story about the big pirate attack off of Somalia.  I think that what has captured everyone's imagination is that the word "pirate" was used.  I suspect that many people think that it means that a bunch of men (perhaps black men) with large beards, eye patches and parrots on their shoulders launched the attack.

The term pirate is a term used to describe people who commit crimes on the high seas.  There are no large vessels, bearing cannons and sword wielding guys with hooks (I mean, I guess there COULD be people out there like that, but I suspect that this was not those people).

These types of crimes are committed/attempted on the high seas with surprising regularity.  People try to board ships and capture crews for ransom, steal cargo, etc.

What set this apart was that instead of attacking a cargo ship, they attacked a luxury cruise ship.

Somalia must be one of the least safe places on the face of the earth.  I'd be pissed at the cruise company (although thankful that they evaded the attack) - why the heck did they even take the ship in that area?  In retrospect, I am surprised (and they are lucky) that it was just pirates, and not some moron on a rubber raft with a boatload of explosives trying to sink the ship.

Comments

[DeeDee]

:(

You mean there are no 'eye patches'?

Arrr!

lol. Just playing.