Here's the latest from cc poster Norman:
Solicitor Norman Fisher, 55, from Hampstead Garden Suburb in north London was onboard the Seabourn Spirit 100 miles off Somalia in Africa when the attack from small boats took place.

The first many bleary-eyed passengers knew of the dawn raid was when captain Sven Erik Pedersen came on the PA system and said: "Stay inside, we`re under attack."

Terrified passengers, including 18 from Britain, were told to go to the restaurant as the sound of the grenade and gunfire from two 25ft rigid inflatable boats filled the air.

"I was awake doing some work when I heard what sounded like a crack from outside at 5.50am," said Mr Fisher.

"I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards away.

"One of them clearly had a rifle. Later I realised that two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher.

"They were firing the rifle and then fired the rocket launcher twice. One of the rockets certainly hit the ship - it went through the side of the liner into a passenger`s suite. The couple were in there at the time so it was a bit of an unpleasant experience.

"Fortunately they weren`t hurt but you can just imagine what it would have been like if they had been standing up because obviously the cabin was very badly damaged.

"I only saw one boat, although the captain said there were two. At first I didn`t know what was going on, but when I saw the rocket launcher I started getting a bit scared."

Mr Fisher went on: "I suppose I had a little bit of adrenaline, particularly because I was trying to take photographs.

"Afterwards, particularly when I looked at the photos and realised the guy was loading the rocket launcher right in front of me, which I hadn`t seen with the naked eye, then you do feel a certain amount of tension about what might have happened."

Mr Fisher said the captain tried to ram one of the boats in an attempt to capsize it and stop them getting aboard.

"The captain didn`t sound the usual alarm because he was worried that people would run up on the deck thinking it was a fire, and that would be the worst place to be," Mr Fisher explained.

"Instead he made an announcement at five past six, saying: `Stay inside, stay inside, we are under attack`.

"Then he told us to go the restaurant in the middle of the ship and wait.

"The atmosphere in the restaurant was a little tense. People were pretty good and they weren`t panicking, but one or two were certainly looking nervous," Mr Fisher said.

"Most people were wearing dressing gowns and were quite bleary-eyed. Some sat on the floor for extra safety and others sat in the chairs. After a while they started bringing in water and coffee for us.

"The captain came in at about 6.30am and explained what was going on and said he was reasonably confident we had lost them. Of course he got a massive round of applause."

He added: "It was all a very surreal experience - not the kind of thing you expect on a cruise."

The Bahamas-registered ship was carrying 302 passengers and crew at the time, but there was only one casualty - a crew member suffered minor injuries from flying debris.

David Dingle, a spokesman for the Miami-based company Seabourn Cruises, owned by US cruise giant Carnival, claimed the rocket did not hit the ship but it was struck by small arms fire. The vessel escaped with only minor damage, he added.

The crew also used an on-board loud acoustic bang to repel the attackers who finally sped off without managing to board the liner. They did not return fire at the pirates.

The drama happened in an area notorious for pirate activity, leading to warnings to stay away from the coast where bandits board ships and demand ransoms.

Somalia has had no recognised government since 1991 and at least 23 hijackings or attempted raids have been tried off the East African country`s coast this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

The ship was en route to Mombasa in Kenya on a 16-day cruise out of Alexandria in Egypt.

The 10,000-ton liner offers the height of luxury, with huge suites, marble bathrooms and more than one crew member to each passenger on board. Most of the passengers are believed to be American.

Mr Dingle said: "The ship`s crew immediately initiated a trained response and as a result of protective and evasive measures taken the occupants of the small craft were unable to gain access to the ship."

He said that when the rocket propelled grenade-type weapon was fired at the ship, the crew and passengers remained calm.

"The passengers were somewhat surprised and shocked because it happened at 5.30am in the morning and they were woken," he explained.

"The passengers were mustered in a public room, told what was going on and reassured that we were fighting off the attack. They were shocked but no passengers were injured whatsoever.

"We are extremely pleased that all the measures worked.
The captain and crew did a fantastic job."

The ship has now cancelled its stop at Mombasa and will end the cruise in the Seychelles on Monday.

Mr Dingle said the company had no reason to believe it was a terrorist attack and all the evidence pointed to pirates.

Despite the incident the area is not the most notorious for pirate attacks, which are increasing being executed by ruthless organised and well resourced criminal gangs.

Indonesian waters are the most dangerous with 93 attacks in 2004. Overall though the IMB said incidents worldwide have decreased over the last few years but still 30 crew were murdered last year by pirates with many others beaten and held to ransom.