Pirates to the left of us, pirates to the right of us

In some ways, pirates are like dragons — scary only in a far-away and make-believe way. It isn’t easy to take Captain Hook seriously when you’re sitting in your den, flipping the channels and listening to Wolf Blitzer report the story of Americans captured by Somali pirates. Pirates of the Arabian Sea seem just as imaginary as Pirates of the Caribbean.

For the record, I now take pirates seriously. We returned last week from a cruise that took us from Thailand to Singapore to Malaysia to Sri Lanka to India to Dubai, through the Indian and Pacific oceans, the South China and Arabian seas, the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Oman. The pirate threat had been percolating on a back burner in my brain; I had even e-mailed the cruise line, asking what precautions were in place, but they didn’t answer me. I figured they thought I was ridiculous. Still, I knew that Somali pirates had been active in the area and were now able to extend their reach, having anchored “mother ships” offshore to help them refuel. Of course, the threat didn’t really seem credible.

Every night, my husband and I strolled around the deck, and after we left Sri Lanka, heading for Madras, India, we noticed hoses stretched across the deck, with the nozzles positioned just over the side. Hmmm. One night we saw a peculiar device attached to the stern. Hmmm. Rumors were flying. Finally, Captain Mario appeared on the shipboard TV station to advise us that there was pirate activity in the area. I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

This is what he said: “We are now entering the highest-risk waters — until we reach Dubai.” He said there hadn’t been a pirate attack in three days, which for some reason he thought was comforting. The captain confirmed that we had high-pressure hoses set up on two decks and an LRAD, or Long Range Acoustical Device, mounted aft. Also, he had posted extra lookouts. Finally, he said that some “special advisors” would be coming aboard in Mumbai and sailing with us to Dubai. “Security is all these men do,” he said. “They go from ship to ship, providing intelligence and protection.”

We had been told some of this by another passenger who’s a retired submarine commander. But damn, now it was official.