Guests aboard Cunard’s Queen Anne cruise ship were cruising through paradise when they were hit with strict safety rules that sounded straight out of a thriller.
The 111-night voyage, which launched from Germany in January, was passing between Darwin, Australia, and Manila, the Philippines, when the ship entered the Sulu-Celebes Sea.
That’s when the captain made a dramatic announcement over the loudspeaker: the ship would be operating at a “heightened level of security alertness”.
With that, the external promenade decks were shut down overnight, only a few essential lights stayed on, and guests were told to keep their stateroom lights off and curtains tightly drawn.
The reason for the drastic request was due to the location being prone to piracy.
“I assure you that measures to prevent any unlikely incident have been well planned and the likelihood of this happening on a big ship like Queen Anne is absolutely minimal,” the announcement continued.
A guest captured the eerie moment on video, and the clip quickly spread across social media, triggering a wave of stunned reactions.
“Well that sounds terrifying,” one TikTok user reacted. But the original poster quickly clarified: “Not really it’s just safety precautions the risk is very low.”
Others couldn’t believe piracy was still a real threat “WAIT PIRATES ARE STILL A THING?!?!?!” a user exclaimed, while another remarked: “Idk why but every time I hear about real-life pirates I’m always shocked/amazed that they really exist.”
A third shared: “I used to work on a cruise ship and there are a few areas where you get piracy. We used to get a special security company that used to come on board with g*ns when we go past Somalia. You’re safe.”
Someone else pointed out how seriously these threats are taken: “To be honest, if a cruise or passenger vessel was attacked by Pirates, the response from naval vessels would be swift and sudden, moreso than if it was a regular merchant vessel.”
While actual pirate attacks on cruise ships are extremely rare – pirates generally prefer going after oil tankers and cargo ships – precautions like these are common practice when entering high-risk zones.
Cunard later confirmed to Business Insider: “As part of standard maritime procedures, our Captains may make precautionary announcements when sailing through certain regions.”
“There was no specific threat to the ship or its guests, and our onboard experience remained uninterrupted,” he added.
Despite being rare, CruiseCritic reports that pirates have targeted cruise ships in the past, with some of the most recent examples listed below:
- In 2005, pirates armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades tried to hijack the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast but failed.
- In April 2008, pirates successfully captured the French luxury ship Le Ponant, which was carrying only crew. The hostages were later freed and the ship recovered after a ransom was paid.
- Later that same month, pirates attempted to attack Oceania’s Nautica while it was sailing through the Gulf of Aden, but the ship managed to avoid capture.
- One of the most well-known cruise ship pirate incidents happened in April 2009, when MSC Melody came under attack after a nighttime classical music performance. Passengers spotted an approaching skiff and threw deck chairs overboard to prevent a boarding. Pirates fired at the ship but were ultimately deterred by evasive action from the captain and intervention by onboard Israeli security. Before retreating, the pirates placed a strange call to the bridge, asking for the ship’s coordinates in broken English.
- In January 2011, Spirit of Adventure encountered what were believed to be pirates in the Indian Ocean. The captain ordered the ship to speed up, and the potential attackers eventually stopped chasing.
- In November 2012, small boats approached Azamara Journey in a suspected pirate attempt. The crew used undisclosed defensive tactics, and although unconfirmed, it’s rumored that at least three warning flares were launched to scare them off.
