Star Breeze

Star Breeze in Portoferraio, Italy
History
Name:
  • 1989–2015: Seabourn Spirit:
  • 2015–present: Star Breeze
Operator:
Port of registry:
Builder:
Yard number: 1070[1]
Launched: November 1988[2]
Acquired: 7 November 1989[1]
In service: 28 November 1989[1]
Refit: 2007[2]
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics [1]
Tonnage: 9,975 GT[3]
Length: 134 m (439 ft 8 in)[2]
Beam: 19.2 m (63 ft 0 in)[2]
Draft: 5 m (16 ft 5 in)[2]
Decks: 4 (passenger decks)[2]
Installed power:
  • 4 × Normo-Bergen diesels
  • combined 7280 kW
Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)[2]
Capacity: 208 passengers[2]
Crew: 164[2]
Armament: 1 × LRAD

Star Breeze (formerly Seabourn Spirit) is a German-built cruise ship completed in 1989. The luxury liner travels between Europe and Africa, and is owned by Windstar Cruises. In early 2005 she was rated the best small cruise ship by Condé Nast.[4] In April 2015, she departed the Seabourn fleet, and on 6 May 2015 she was rechristened and entered service with Windstar Cruises.[5]

Pirate attack

Seabourn Spirit in Rovinj, Croatia.

On 5 November 2005 at 5:50 am, while Spirit was underway 115 km off the coast of Somalia with 115 passengers, the ship was attacked by two pirate speedboats launched by a mother ship.[6] Machine guns were fired as well as rocket propelled grenades at the cruise ship, and the remains of an RPG's rocket motor wedged itself in the wall of a room[7] and was disarmed by sailors from USS Gonzalez after the attack.[8] It was reported that a second RPG bounced off the stern.[4] No passengers were injured, but the ship's Master-at-Arms, Som Bahadur Gurung was hit by shrapnel whilst attempting to combat the raiders with a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). The sonic device repelled the pirates by blasting a powerful sound wave.[9]

The Seabourn Spirit In 2006.

Security officer Michael Groves and British shipmate Som Bahadur Gurung (an ex-Gurkha) were honoured for their bravery by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 16 May 2007, receiving the Queen's Gallantry Medal and the Queen's Commendation for Bravery respectively.[9][10]

The motor of a rocket propelled grenade (RPG), shown after striking the Seabourn Spirit

The ship then altered its course to Port Victoria in the Seychelles for repairs rather than the originally-planned Mombasa in Kenya.[4] The ship then sailed to Singapore and returned to its original schedule.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 (Swedish) Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Seabourn Spirit (1989), retrieved 7. 12. 2007
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Seabourn Spirit: ship specifications. Seabourn Cruise Line, retrieved May 23, 2010.
  3. ↑ Results for Vessel: Seabourn Spirit> United States Coast Guard Maritime Information Exchange, 2 April 2012
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lehr, Peter (2007). Violence at sea: piracy in the age of global terrorism. Routledge. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0-415-95320-7.
  5. ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/8724-windstar-completes-purchase-of-three-seabourn-ships-.html
  6. ↑ Bomb experts tackle missile, The Herald Sun, 2005-11-08
  7. ↑ Rebuilding Africa tourism, Christian Science Monitor, 2005-11-08
  8. ↑ Cruising into hell, The Daily Telegraph (Australia), 2005-11-08
  9. 1 2 BBC News: 'I beat pirates with a hose and sonic cannon'
  10. ↑ Cocktail party follows pirate attack, The Courier-Mail,2005-11-08
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