LONDON (CP) - Eighteen passengers from Canada were among more than 300 people on board a luxury cruise liner Saturday when pirates fired a rocket-propelled grenade and machine-guns off the coast of the east African country of Somalia, Dan McTeague, the parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad said Saturday.
The attackers never got close enough to board the Spirit, but one member of the 161-person crew was injured by shrapnel, said Debrah Natansohn, president of the cruise line. The 10,000-tonne vessel was only slightly damaged.
The Seabourn Spirit was 160 kilometres off Somalia when the attack took place early Saturday, said Seabourn Cruises spokesman David Dingle.
"The ship's crew immediately initiated a trained response and as a result of protective and evasive measures taken the occupants of the small craft were unable to gain access to the ship," Dingle said.
McTeague said there were no reports indicating any Canadians were injured in the assault.
One of the Canadian passengers, Mike Rogers, of Vancouver, said the shooting started at about 6 a.m. and all the passengers were asked to move to the centre of the boat.
"The captain tried to run one of the boats over . . . he said he was going to do anything to stop them from getting on board, and after trying to run one over he decided the best thing to do was to outrun them," Rogers told radio station CKNW in Vancouver.
Rogers suggested the attackers may have been connected to a nearby cargo ship. He said it was unlikely the men who attacked the Seabourn Spirit could have made it so far off shore in their small boats.
Another passenger who said she was on the ship sent an e-mail to the British Broadcasting Corp. saying that at least three rocket-propelled grenades hit the ship.
"Our captain . . . and the rest of his crew did a wonderful and amazing job getting us out of the area as fast as possible. We had no idea that this ship could move as fast as it did and he did his best to run down the pirates," she said.
Press Association, the British news agency, said passengers were woken by the sound of gunfire Saturday as two 7.5-metre inflatable boats approached the liner and started shooting as their occupants tried to get on aboard. The injured crew member was reportedly hit by flying debris.
Seabourn Cruises said the Seabourn Spirit was on a 16-day cruise out of Alexandria in Egypt and was on its way to Mombasa in Kenya when it was attacked.
Dingle said the crew managed to remain calm, but "the passengers were somewhat surprised and shocked because it happened at 5:30 in the morning and they were woken," he explained.
"The passengers were mustered in a public room, told what was going on and reassured that we were fighting off the attack. They were shocked but no passengers were injured whatsoever."
The ship will no longer stop at Mombasa and will end the cruise in the Seychelles on Monday, he said.
