Seabourn Cruise Lines, whose luxury ship was targeted by pirates in the Indian Ocean, will re-evaluate whether to continue cruises off the coast of Somalia following the attack.
President Deborah Natansohn said: “We’re obviously evaluating the situation now and we’ll take that decision at a later point.”
She told CNN: “We do know, of course, that the Indian Ocean is an area that we have to be more alert, and we were traveling through the area in a high state of alert.
“We train for all kinds of emergencies on cruise ships so we are prepared for anything,” Natansohn added.
The 10,000 ton Bahamas-registered vessel Seabourn Spirit was sailing towards the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, Kenya, on a 16-day cruise out of Alexandria, Egypt with 300 passengers including about 20 from the UK.
The vessel was yesterday sailing on to the Seychelles, where passengers were to disembark and fly to Mombasa. The ship is due to dock today.
Miami-based Seabourn is part of the Carnival Corporation portfolio of cruise companies.
*Look out for ‘Oceans of Opportunity – how far can the cruise boom go?’ – the December 6 TravelMole Travel Industry Question Time debate to be held in London. For further details, go to: https://www.travelmole.com/travel_industry_question_time/index.php?id=22
or phone: 020 7559 6613.
