Wednesday, June 20, 2018

They Were Not Alone

Most of the passengers aboard Queen Mary 2's world cruise earlier this year on the segment through the Gulf of Aden didn't realize it at the time, but also aboard was an armed squad of former Royal Marines, set to defend the ship in case of a pirate attack.

Passengers were made aware of the unlikely possibility of an attack when Captain Peter Philpott sent a letter to each stateroom giving passengers basic instructions should there be an attack, and asking them to keep their balcony lights off at night. Passengers were also made aware the ship was under the protection of an international task force that protects merchant ships from pirate attacks. There was a uniformed Royal Marine Colonel aboard who gave passengers a security briefing.

The complete story appeared in the June 20 edition of Cruise News Daily.