Seabourn Spirit
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 Seabourn Spirit in Sydney Cove |
|
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Seabourn Spirit |
| Operator: | Seabourn Cruise Line |
| Port of Registry: | 1989-2002: Oslo,  Norway2002-present: Nassau,  Bahamas[1] |
| Builder: | Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, Germany |
| Yard number: | 1070[1] |
| Launched: | 17 March 1989[1] |
| Acquired: | 7 November 1989[1] |
| In service: | 28 November 1989[1] |
| Status: | in service |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tonnage: | 9975 GRT |
| Displacement: | 820 metric tons of deadweight (DWT) |
| Length: | 133.81 m (439 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 19.00 m (62 ft 4 in) |
| Draft: | 5.20 m (17 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power: | 4 × Normo-Bergen diesels combined 7280 kW |
| Speed: | 16-knot (30 km/h)[2] |
| Capacity: | 208 passengers[2] |
| Crew: | 164[2] |
| Armament: | 1 x LRAD |
Seabourn Spirit is a German-built 5-star cruise ship that first sailed in 1989. The luxury liner travels between Europe and Africa, and is owned by the Seabourn Cruise Line.
[edit] Pirate attack
On 5 November 2005 at 5:50 am, the ship was attacked, 115 km off the coast of Somalia, by two pirate speedboats launched by a mother boat[3]. The ship carried 151 passengers, none of whom were injured, although machine gun shots were fired as well as rocket propelled grenades. An unexploded grenade wedged itself in the wall of a room[4] and was disarmed by sailors from the USS Gonzalez[5] after the attack. The ship's Master-at-Arms, Michael Groves, was hit by shrapnel whilst attempting to combat the raiders with a long range acoustic device (LRAD). The sonic device repelled the pirates by blasting a powerful sound wave. The ship also destroyed one of the pirate vessels by running it over. Groves and fellow British colleague Som Bahadur Gurung (an ex-Gurkha) were honoured for their bravery by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 16 May 2007, receiving the Queen's Gallantry Medal and the Queen's Commendation for Bravery respectively.[6][7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f (Swedish) Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Seabourn Spirit (1989), retrieved 7. 12. 2007
- ^ a b c Seabourn Cruise Line: ship facts - ship specifications, retrieved 7. 12. 2007
- ^ Bomb experts tackle missile, The Herald Sun, 2005-11-08
- ^ Rebuilding Africa tourism, Christian Science Monitor, 2005-11-08
- ^ Cruising into hell, The Daily Telegraph (Australia), 2005-11-08
- ^ BBC News: 'I beat pirates with a hose and sonic cannon'
- ^ Cocktail party follows pirate attack, The Courier-Mail,2005-11-08
- "Cruise liner Seabourn Spirit attacked by pirates off coast of Somalia", CBC News, 2005-11-05.
- "Machine-gun toting pirates attack ship", National Post, 2005-11-06.
- "Unexploded grenade left on US cruise ship", Reuters, 2005-11-07.
- "U.S. Navy boards ship after pirate attack", CNN, 2005-11-08.
- "Somali 'mother ship' directs attacks by pirates", The Independent, 2005-11-12.
- "'I beat pirates with a hose and sonic cannon'", BBC News Online, 2007-05-16.
[edit] External links
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