Pirates

On February 15th, we exited the Red Sea and entered the waters between Yemen and Somalia - pirate territory. We knew that this was a risk when we booked passage. The reality of the situation was brought home when the Captain announced that all outside doors would be locked overnight, and that extra crew members would be assigned to "lookout" duty on the bridge. Then he gathered the passengers together to discuss the subject of pirates.
Should the ship be boarded we would offer no resistance. The locked doors would slow the pirates down, but not stop them. He explained that their countries were very poor and that they would take everything that wasn't nailed down. The Chief Engineer had been on a ship boarded by pirates, and they took all the bedding, including the mattresses, leaving the crew in only their underwear. Fortunately high jacking has not been successful fort hem. On one ship that they commandeered they demanded a ransom of $ 1million. The price was eventually reduced to $250,000. This was no bargain,however, because the pirates had already inflicted millions of dollars of damage to the ship. On another ship the crew fought off the pirates,killing some in the fray. Two years later, in spite of the fact that thes hip had been sold and traveled with a different crew, the ship was attacked again. This time, everyone in the crew was murdered. "This", the Captain explained, "is why we offer no resistance. The commercial shipping world has no desire to enter armed warfare with the pirates. Everybody would lose."
Interesting fact: Israeli and Russian ships are never attacked!
After all these "war stories," and an uncomfortable rise in my adrenalin level, the Captain then assured us the we are an unlikely candidate for attack. We have a very high freeboard, travel comparatively fast, 18-19knots, and don't have an attractive cargo.
Still - I was happy to enter the Indian Ocean.