The Hindu Business Line : Cruise ships: Armed against pirates

That most cruise ships have armed guards on board is an open secret. Only now do we have confirmation of it. The armed personnel on board the cruise ship MSC Melody returned fire on Somali pirates near Seychelles recently. This is not the first time the pirates targeted a cruise ship, but they were fended off. The incident has raised several questions, the most important being whether having weapons on board a passenger ship is the right thing to do and whether other vessels too should adopt similar expedients. After all, such a step is not without huge risks, besides potential legal and insurance complications. According to one view, only military ships should have weapons on board. The piracy problem could not have surfaced at a more inopportune moment for the cruise industry. Recession has hit the industry hard, with cruise pricing dropping to new lows and analysts warning that the pricing in 2009 is going to be more abysmal than expected. Capping it all, there is swine flu. The cruise sector, according to experts, is acutely vulnerable to epidemic jitters. The enclosed space aboard a cruise ship is perceived as a fertile ground for viral transmission.

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