Security

Israeli Mercs 1, Pirates 0 in Cruise Ship Gunbattle

For months, private security firms have been trying to sell their pirate-fighting skills to a wary shipping industry. Now they have at least one successful advertisement for armed guards on the high seas: the defense of the cruise ship MSC Melody. The story in brief: Over the weekend, the MSC Melody, a vessel owned by […]

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melody-wikimediaFor months, private security firms have been trying to sell their pirate-fighting skills to a wary shipping industry. Now they have at least one successful advertisement for armed guards on the high seas: the defense of the cruise ship MSC Melody.

The story in brief: Over the weekend, the MSC Melody, a vessel owned by Italian cruise line MSC Cruises, repelled an attack by pirates some 500 miles off the coast of Somalia. According to a news release from the European anti-piracy task force operating in the Gulf of Aden, the vessel "successfully took evasive action" to prevent the pirates from boarding. In subsequent news reports, it emerged that the vessel's security team used firearms and hoses to drive off the attackers, who had surrounded the cruise ship with small boats and were attempting climb on board.

MSC Cruises also disclosed that its security staff was Israeli. Notes Ha'aretz:

Security work aboard cruise ships is very popular among young Israelis just out of the army; the job is seen as a chance to save money and travel at the same time. Hundreds of veterans and reservists of elite Israel Defense Force units, including the naval commandos, are employed in security work on cruise ships and oil rigs in areas subject to pirate attacks.

Whether this opens up the anti-piracy market to more private security firms, however, is another matter. The International Maritime Bureau, for one, still has qualms about the use of armed guards to deter pirates. Shipping news portal Lloyd's List quotesCyrus Mody of the International Maritime Bureau as saying: “We always have been against the carriage of arms on vessels. First, we don’t think there is legal backing. Two, there’s a risk of escalation. Three, you cannot carry arms on ships carrying hazardous or dangerous cargo."

Added Mody: “If you permit armed guards on certain vessels, the others, which cannot carry the armed guards will become vulnerable and be targeted a lot more.”

The Spanish warship Marques de la Ensenada is now escorting the MSC Melody as she transits north to the Gulf of Aden. According to the ship tracking map on the MSC corporate website, the ship has not yet rounded the Horn of Africa on its way back to Italy.

[PHOTO: Wikimedia]

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