The 246 passengers aboard the MS Columbus disembarked their ship in the Yemeni port of Hodeida on Wednesday morning in order to prevent the risk of a pirate attack as their ship sails through an area off the coast of Somalia that has been plagued by pirates in recent months.
The passengers, who are in the middle of an around-the-world cruise that began in Italy, were let off the ship as a "precautionary measure" before its scheduled passage through the dangerous Gulf of Aden. The decision was announced by Hamburg-based cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday. Passengers are expected to fly to Dubai, where they are to spend three nights in a five-star hotel before recommencing the cruise in the Omani port of Salalah.
The MS Columbus, a German cruise ship, evacuated 246 passengers on Wednesday before sailing through the pirate-infested waters off Somalia's coast.
Company spokesman Rainer Müller told the Associated Press that the company decided upon evacuation after the German government denied its request for a security escort through the Gulf. Although cargo ships have been the main focus of pirate aggression, on Nov. 30 the 650-passenger cruise ship MS Nautica suffered an attempted attack before outrunning its would-be hijackers.
Müller indicated that Hapag-Lloyd would not be sending any ships through the area with passengers until the German government removes its travel warning from the region. Hansa Touristik, another German cruise operator, has already canceled a cruise that was scheduled to pass through the Somali coast on Dec. 27.
On Monday the European Union launched the anti-pirate naval mission Atalanta, which will send six military vessels to the region and up to three aircraft to help defend cargo ships. The EU force will take over from a four-vessel NATO flotilla that is currently patrolling the region. Since the NATO force was deployed on Oct. 24, pirates have attacked 32 ships and successfully hijacked 12, including a Saudi super-tanker carrying over $100 million (€77.3 million) in oil and a Ukranian ship stocked with tanks and other heavy weapons.
On Wednesday, the German cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel met to approve the country's involvement in the EU's mission. Up until now, German frigates in the region have been operating under the mandate of the anti-terror mission Operation Enduring Freedom, which only allows them to respond to emergency calls from ships facing imminent attack. Under the new Atalanta mandate, up to 1,400 German troops will be deployed to perform a broader range of anti-pirate functions, including direct deployments on vulnerable trading vessels. German involvement in the mission still needs to be approved by the country's parliament, which is expected to hold a vote on the issue on Dec. 19.
The EU mission will include participants from seven other countries in addition to Germany, including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain. Other countries have already deployed warships to the area, including the United States, Russia, India, and Malaysia.
cpg -- witih wire reports
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