January 24th - Anti-Piracy Drill

Yesterday I called it a terrorism readiness drill but the Captain called it an Anti-Piracy drill, so we’ll go with that.

The drill was primarily for the crew but the passengers were asked to participate.  At the sound of a coded call over the intercom we were to return to our cabins.  If you are in an inside cabin then you could stay in your room.  For those of us on the outside, we had to go into the corridor outside our room for the duration of the drill.  We had a nice chat with our neighbors.

The whole drill took about 15-20 minutes after which time we were free to go about our business.  The Captain told us that a British Naval Officer and three sharpshooters came aboard in Aqaba and will be with us until Dubai.  During that time, we will be running on reduced outside lighting and passengers will not be allowed on the promenade deck between dusk and dawn.

There are already spotters on deck 7, where the promenade deck is.  They are watching out to sea with binoculars.  The ship has also set up water cannons along the outside deck.  This was not mentioned by the Captain and maybe many of the passengers won’t even notice them.  We only did because we saw them on the Holland America Amsterdam when we were in this same area three years ago. 

The chance of a passenger ship coming under attack by pirates is not likely but they have to be prepared.  We are also traveling in an internationally recommended transit corridor and will be under the protection of an International Task Force assigned by a United Nation’s mandate to protect ships from the piracy threat.  The threat of piracy was far higher three years ago when we went through here and I don’t get the feeling that anyone is really worried about it.

Today was the first truly warm, sunny day we’ve had on this trip.  We were able to walk the promenade without a jacket or sweater.  It should only get warmer from here.  Five more sea days to Dubai!