Cruise Ship Attacked By Pirates

This was reported by cnn this morning



The captain of an Italian cruise ship foiled an attack by pirates off
the coast of Somalia on Saturday by ordering his security crew to fire
back, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

Six armed pirates in a speedboat attacked the ship, which had about
1,500 people onboard, ANSA said. They fled after the security crew
fired back.

The cruise ship Melody, which is owned by an Italian company, was on
its way back to Italy after a cruise, ANSA said.

No one was injured in the attack about 180 miles north of the
Seychelles.

Piracy is rampant off the coast of Somalia despite the presence of
foreign navies. The area hardest hit off the coasts of Somalia and
Kenya, including the Gulf of Aden, is more than 1.1 million square
miles -- four times the size of the state of Texas.