Sailing the Gulf of Oman into the Arabian Sea - Day 24

We are at sea for the next eight days!

The captain ran through the measures the ship has taken for our protection from pirates. The Somali pirates have expanded their territory to include most of the Indian Ocean. It is therefore quite impossible to protect such a large area. The pirates recently were seen in the waters near India, if you can believe. We are sailing towards a point in the Arabian Sea where there is a formalized escort service provided by various navies of the world. We pick them up at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden and they escort ten or so ships at a time through the worst hit areas until we reach the Red Sea. We are not allowed out on our balconies at night, drapes have to be kept closed and most outdoor lighting is darkened. The navy ship that was escorting us has left us this morning. We found out that certain navies use the pretext that they are escorting ships out of the Persian Gulf when in fact they are keeping an eye on Iran. A new shadow ship paid for by the cruise line will be following us through the Gulf of Aden. In addition, our ship is in contact with a person in Dubai that tracks all naval and shipping activity in this area. So if we need help, the closest ship can get to us quickly.

There should be no worries as our ship rides very high and the pirates seem to prefer low riding ships. In addition, we cruise at about 20 knots whereas the tankers and shipping boats run at about 7 knots. Conventional wisdom seems to be we can outrun any pirate boat. We are having a drill tomorrow to prepare us in case there is an attack.

I’ve had terrible allergies for some reason. I’ve been taking Benadryl which puts me to sleep for most of the day. Jeff wakes me up for lunch and dinner. I hope this stops soon………