Pirate Threat Forces Cruise Ship Evacuation

In Berlin a cruise ship will evacuate passengers before sailing past the Somali coast and fly them to the next port of call to protect them from possible pirate attacks, German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd said Tuesday.Hapag-Lloyd said the detour was a "precautionary measure," given rampant piracy off the coast of lawless Somalia that has targeted cruise ships as well as commercial vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million in crude and a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and other weapons.In addition, Pirates last week fired upon a cruise liner carrying 650 passengers and 400 crew members. Luckily the massive ship outran its assailants. Other ships have not been so lucky.An official with the European Union's anti-piracy mission said separately that it would station armed guards on vulnerable cargo ships. The first such deployment of military personnel during the international anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.