Sending our message "Loudly" with the LRAD. Image taken on: USS Typhoon, stationed at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek.
The UK's Daily Express is reporting that the cruise ship pursued by pirates last week in the Indian Ocean defended itself with a sonic weapon.
The news outlet says the 348-passenger Spirit of Adventure deployed a long range acoustic device, or LRAD, that can cause permanent ear damage at 300 feet. The device emits a loud boom that is, literally, ear-splitting.
Citing unnamed sources, the Express says the vessel's crew also deployed tangled cables designed to snarl the pirates' speedboat propellers.
The Spirit of Adventure was on its way from Madagascar to Zanzibar when it was pursued by the pirate boat for about an hour. Passengers, who were in the midst of a black tie dinner, were ordered to take shelter below deck.
Several major cruise lines including Star Clippers and Seabourn have canceled voyages across the Indian Ocean over the past year due to concern over the increasingly brazen attacks on ships sailing through the region.
In April 2009, pirates with automatic weapons fired upon and attempted to board an MSC Cruises ship sailing through the Indian Ocean, prompting that line, too, to drop voyages through the area.
The UK's Daily Express is reporting that the cruise ship pursued by pirates last week in the Indian Ocean defended itself with a sonic weapon.
The news outlet says the 348-passenger Spirit of Adventure deployed a long range acoustic device, or LRAD, that can cause permanent ear damage at 300 feet. The device emits a loud boom that is, literally, ear-splitting.
Citing unnamed sources, the Express says the vessel's crew also deployed tangled cables designed to snarl the pirates' speedboat propellers.
The Spirit of Adventure was on its way from Madagascar to Zanzibar when it was pursued by the pirate boat for about an hour. Passengers, who were in the midst of a black tie dinner, were ordered to take shelter below deck.
Several major cruise lines including Star Clippers and Seabourn have canceled voyages across the Indian Ocean over the past year due to concern over the increasingly brazen attacks on ships sailing through the region.
In April 2009, pirates with automatic weapons fired upon and attempted to board an MSC Cruises ship sailing through the Indian Ocean, prompting that line, too, to drop voyages through the area.