Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Pirates of the Indian Ocean

And in more disturbing travel-related news, this just in from Travel Weekly:

PIRATES SEIZED a luxury French sailing yacht, Le Ponant, off the coast of Somalia on April 4 with 30 crewmembers and no passengers onboard; the ship was repositioning from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. The French Foreign Ministry said that France had sent a team to negotiate with the pirates; it said the government was in contact with the ship and that the hostages were reported to be safe. The pirates overtook the 64-passenger Le Ponant, operated by French cruise line Compagnie des Iles du Ponant, days after the vessel completed a seven-day cruise in the Seychelles on March 30. In 2005, pirates fired upon the Seabourn Spirit also off the coast of Somalia; in that attack, the Spirit is said to have repelled the pirates by using a sonic weapon.

Did you read that? A SONIC WEAPON.
What is a sonic weapon? Does that mean a loud radio? Blast those pirates with Judas Priest and watch them run away screaming.

There seem to be 2 opinions on this subject.
Wikipedia says there is no such thing.
BBC says ships are using this technology to repel pirates.

Decide yourself.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That is VERY funny. Thanks for the laugh tonight!