The Somali pirates have been in the news a lot lately. They have taken 5 or 6 ships in just the last week or so. One was taken today off the coast of Kenya, our next destination. The preparation to prevent pirate attacks started when we left Mumbai. I walk 2 miles on the Promenade deck most sea days just after lunch so I see some of what they are doing. That day, the fire hoses were out on the decks, ready to be turned against anyone trying to board the ship. It was actually a bit spooky because the fire equipment locker doors were wide open with a large hatchet in each one. Hope there isn't a maniac murderer on the ship!
While at lunch the day after Mumbai, the ship was buzzed by a 2 engine plane. It circled 3 times before I was able to get a good enough look to see that is said Coast Guard on the side. It was from the Indian Coast Guard, just checking out our ship. We'd never seen that before! It came quite close, flying almost level to deck 8.
I purchased a small souvenir Arabian knife for Mel in Dubai. We always go thru a metal detector when we reboard the ship. In Dubai, it was on the pier rather than onboard the ship. The Dubai security officer took the knife from my package and escorted me to the HAL security officer on board. He looked at the knife, looked at me and told me to just take it to my cabin and put it away. I laughed and said it was funny that they are concerned about a silly little knife when there are huge hatchets in the fire cabinets on deck 3. The next day they were gone. Guess they listen to their passengers.
Part of what I said in my April Fool's post about pirates was true. We were supposed to have 4 sea days after Oman, then just 2 after the Seychelles. The Capt said we would be speeding up to 23 knots, faster than we'd gone before, to reach the Seychelles a day early, giving us 3 days to reach Mombassa instead of 2. After Oman, the fire hoses were now mounted to the railings on deck 3. After the Seychelles, they were live, dripping water, ready to go. There had been a security officer on each side of the deck at the stern equipped with a radio and binoculars. Now after the Seychelles they also have helmets sitting close by and are wearing vests. Not sure what good they would be if we really were to be approached by numerous speed boats with fully armed pirates, but they are trying.
There is a large touch screen display in the Explorer Cafe area of the ship. We can look up info on the trip, our location, route, etc. I looked at our course today. After leaving the Seychelles we headed almost due south instead of east. Going east we would have been going thru the waters of the most recent captures. We went almost as far south as Madagascar, then headed for the coast. We followed the coast of Tanzania most of the day and will arrive in Mombassa at 4 a.m. The Kenyan navy is keeping watch of our progress and will protect us if necessary. There will also be extra security in the port. Kind of exciting being in the middle of something like this. Look at a map to see what I'm talking about!
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
No comments:
Post a Comment