The captain of a luxury cruise liner carrying British tourists has been praised for fending off pirates who tried to attack his ship.
The Seabourn Spirit was 100 miles off Somalia in Africa when pirates attacked the vessel with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based company Seabourn Cruises, owned by US cruise giant Carnival, said two boats carrying pirates approached the ship and opened fire while the heavily-armed bandits tried to get onboard.
The first many bleary-eyed passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen came on the PA system and said: "Stay inside, we're under attack."
Mr Good said the ship escaped by shifting to high speed and changing course.
He said: "Our suspicion at this time is that the motive was theft."
The Seaburn Spirit He added that the crew had been trained for "various scenarios, including people trying to get on the ship that you don't want on the ship".
Terrified passengers, including 18 from Britain, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of the grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.
David Dingle, a spokesman for Seabourn Cruises, claimed the rocket did not hit the ship but it was struck by small arms fire.
The crew also used an on-board loud acoustic bang to repel the attackers who finally sped off without managing to board the liner. They did not return fire at the pirates.
Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from north London, was onboard the boat when he spotted the pirates.
"I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away," he said.
"One of them clearly had a rifle. Later I realised that two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher."
The ship has now cancelled its stop at Mombasa and will end the cruise in the Seychelles on Monday.
The Seabourn Spirit was 100 miles off Somalia in Africa when pirates attacked the vessel with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based company Seabourn Cruises, owned by US cruise giant Carnival, said two boats carrying pirates approached the ship and opened fire while the heavily-armed bandits tried to get onboard.
The first many bleary-eyed passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen came on the PA system and said: "Stay inside, we're under attack."
Mr Good said the ship escaped by shifting to high speed and changing course.
He said: "Our suspicion at this time is that the motive was theft."
The Seaburn Spirit He added that the crew had been trained for "various scenarios, including people trying to get on the ship that you don't want on the ship".
Terrified passengers, including 18 from Britain, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of the grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.
David Dingle, a spokesman for Seabourn Cruises, claimed the rocket did not hit the ship but it was struck by small arms fire.
The crew also used an on-board loud acoustic bang to repel the attackers who finally sped off without managing to board the liner. They did not return fire at the pirates.
Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from north London, was onboard the boat when he spotted the pirates.
"I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away," he said.
"One of them clearly had a rifle. Later I realised that two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher."
The ship has now cancelled its stop at Mombasa and will end the cruise in the Seychelles on Monday.
