It was mid-afternoon on a clear day, when between 8–13 speed boats could be seen clearly zig-zagging in front of the 102,000 ton, 273 m long vessel carrying 2,720 passengers in a bid to slow it down and attempt boarding. Another attempt was reported to have happened at around 11 pm the next night.
As passengers we were aware that we were in dangerous waters and had been sent a letter advising us what to do to prepare. The letter instructed that in the event of pirates boarding the ship, we should follow the loud speaker instructions to go to a lock down area. I don’t want to name the cruise liner, but it is European and every announcement, from bingo to shipping info was made in four languages, so I can only imagine the confusion that could cause in a high stakes pirate situation.