While transiting the Gulf of Aden this morning at 9:28am local time (12:28am Eastern Standard Time), the bridge officer on duty aboard Oceania's Nautica noticed two small boats approaching rapidly, approximately 1000 meters away, and deemed them hostile. The captain took evasive action and eventually outran them.
During the encounter, one of the boats did manage to close within about 300 meters and did fire eight rifle shots toward Nautica, but there were no injuries aboard the cruise ship.
Nautica was within the Maritime Safety Protection Area at the time of the incident, and it lasted only a few minutes. All of the prescribed international authorities were immediately notified, and Nautica is now proceeding to its next scheduled port, Salalah (Oman) where it is expected to arrive on Monday.
