The Guantlet

Trip Start Jan 13, 2009

Trip End May 13, 2009

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Flag of Oman Gulf of Admen, Oman
Friday, April 10, 2009

The gauntlet is the nickname for part of the Gulf of Admen which is located between Oman and Somalia on the land side and the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea on the water side. This is an area of the world that is at high risk for piracy. Last December the Nautilus was attacked by pirates. The Cruise ship which is a sister ship to the Tahitian Princess but not a Princess ship, outran the pirates. This area is being patrolled by warships from many countries including the United States, France, India, Russia, and Australia. It is a crucial area in that ships must pass thru the Gulf of Admen to enter the Red Sea which is the entrance to the Suez Canal. This is the passage that allows ships to quickly get to the Mediterranean and then Europe without having to sail all around Africa. It is also an area where many crude oil cargo ships move oil from the oil rich Middle East out to the rest of the world.

The day after we left Dubai and two days before we arrive at Salalah, we held our first practice drill for piracy avoidance. The code that will be given to alert both the crew and passengers of an imminent attack is "Code Sierra Papa". When the code is given over the ship's intercom every one goes into action. All passengers will return to their cabins via inside passage ways. The crew members will go to specific posts that have been assigned to them. Some will start checking the cabins for passengers and that all curtains in cabins have been closed and that no passengers are standing in front of windows. Other crew members will man fire hoses on the top and fifth deck. The fire hoses will be used to create confusion and limited visibility among any would be boarders. The bridge crew will extend the stabilizers and increase the ships speed to over 19 knots. The captain will then institute a series of evasive maneuvers that the passengers have been fore warned to hold on tight to keep from being thrown around the cabin.

The captain has stationed special lookouts around the ship to help alert the ship if anything is spotted. To further enhance our safety we will be cruising further out to sea than normal; beyond the range of small fishing boats. We will be cruising at a much faster speed than normal. We have been assured that help will come quickly in case of an attack.

There are several methods that we might be utilized by pirates; but the methods used by the pirates are evolving and changing:
1)     They might give a phony distress call
2)     They can stretch a long cable between two boats and when a ship passes
between the two boats it will hit the cable and draw the two boats into the
passing ship.
3)     They can just try a direct attack on the ship with guns and grenade launchers.

So now we have the facts and have practiced the procedure so we are ready for the gauntlet.

04/08/09 - Today we visited the port of Salalah and we were to leave port at 7:00PM. We have just learned from CNN that an attack was made near us on a container ship. The information is a bit sketchy so far, but we do know that are departure was delayed 4 hours until 11:00PM. The Passenger Service Desk said that the departure was due to Harbor Traffic, but it is a small port. We were on deck to watch the departure and the only ship we saw moving in the port was a grey colored military ship heading out to sea about the time of our departure.

04/09/09 - On awaking in the morning, I checked the online news service about the pirate attack that occurred while we were in the port of Salalah. The location of the attack was to the south of our location off the coast of Somalia outside of the gulf of Aden.

While I was reading, the bridge came on the intercom to advise us that on our port side was an American Warship that was not identified because of security purposes. They told us to expect to see several more warships while we were passing thru the Gulf of Admen.

By 08:30 AM, the bridge broadcast over the ship's intercom with news that there were now two American Warships with us. They were on both sides of the ship. They were there to mark the shipping lane that we will use as we enter the high security zone of the Gulf of Aden. Although they would not follow us through the shipping lane, they offered a feeling of security. We should always be somewhat close to warships; hopefully never more than one hour away. That will mean the evasive maneuvers would only be needed until help could arrive. Since we passed the American warships we have only seen cargo ships that are transiting thru the protected shipping lane.

04/10/09 - Today was an ordinary day at sea. We saw a few ships in our shipping lane but nothing came close to the ship. Every since we have entered the Gauntlet, the ship has maintained an Eighteen plus Knots speed. We have not lingered anywhere in the Gulf. Several warships passed quickly and in the distance. There was no special activity going on in the Gulf of Admen today. We reached Bab al Mandeb which is the straight that is the entrance to the Red Sea. Bab al Mandeb is Arabic for "Door of Mandeb" and Mandeb is a mountain that sits on the passageway into the Red Sea. As we passed thru Bab al Mandeb, we saw 2 Warships and a submarine that was off to starboard side of the ship. About a half hour latter, we saw about 10 small boats running around in the straight and a cargo ship off on the horizon. This created a little excitement but no "Papa Sierra" code was sounded so it was an apparent false alarm. We made it thru the Gauntlet without any problems or few concerns.

The day after tomorrow we will be arriving in Safaga, Egypt; the port for the Valley of the Kings. We will be in Egypt the land of the pharaohs.

There is not hunt for Harriet as we didn't get off of the ship while in the Gulf of Aden. That was good luck for us.

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A different small boat in water 041009	One of group of 6 small boats 041009	Onr of out dhip lookouts 041009	First warship, morning of 04/09/09
Warships marking shipping Lane 04/09/09	!st Warship in the Morning of 040909	Dan watching warship on 040909	Warship marking Shipping Lane on 040909
Waterhose setup 040909	Unknown Nationality Warships 041009