The Daily Telgaraph
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The captain of The Spirit of Adventure ordered the ship's 350 passengers to hide below deck after a speed boat thought to be carrying pirates approached the vessel.
The guests were having a black-tie dinner when the incident, which took place as the ship travelled between Madagascar and Zanzibar, occurred.
Susie Browne, 73, from Enford, southern England, said: "It was a really terrifying ordeal. We were eating dinner and then ordered below deck with our heads bowed. The captain sped up and tried to outrun the pirates."
She said the passengers were moved to a lounge below deck. "They told us to sit on the floor and the doors were barricaded. We were told they had spotted pirates two miles behind us. We were told to keep our heads down in case they shot us through the windows," she said.
The ship, run by the British firm Saga which specialises in tourism for the over-50s, was able to outrun the pirates and the guests returned to their dinner.
"The Spirit of Adventure was followed by a suspect vessel for about an hour. We think it was scouting out the ship," a Saga spokesman said. "Usually pirates are not interested in passenger ships but in cargo ones which have a higher value. There are well rehearsed procedures that are put in place for this sort of incident."
Source: The Daily Telgaraph