Cruise

摘要

The gulf of Aden is increasingly featuring in news reports as merchant ships run the gauntlet of Somali-based pirates and risk being hijacked. Hapag Lloyd's C Columbus (1997/15,067gt) was scheduled to sail through these waters during her World Cruise which started from Genoa on 29 November 2008. After she had sailed, the German Government issued a warning that travellers should avoid the area. Erring on the side of caution, the company decided on a novel way of continuing with its planned journey, without having to disrupt the schedule. The 300 passengers and all but 50 crewmembers disembarked at the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and were flown by chartered aircraft to Dubai where they were accommodated at a luxury hotel. They were then flown onto the Omani port of Salalah to rejoin the ship, which had sailed through the Gulf of Aden at top speed, and they were able to continue with the cruise.