Shots fired as pirates attack Oceania cruise ship

Pirates in the Gulf of Aden fired shots today at a cruise ship packed with hundreds of American vacationers.

The 11-deck-high Oceania Nautica, one of the cruise industry's highest rated vessels, ultimately was able to out run the attackers, who approached on two small skiffs. No one was injured.

Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky says the Nautica, in the midst of a 32-night cruise from Rome to Singapore, was sailing full with 684 passengers and 400 crew on board at the time of the incident.

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Rubacky says the ship was transiting an internationally patrolled part of the Gulf of Aden when the brazen daylight raid occurred. An officer on deck spotted the skiffs approaching the Nautica at about 9:28 a.m. local time (12:28 a.m. ET) and quickly deemed them hostile, he says. The Nautica's captain immediately ordered the ship to full speed, and it was able to pull away from the approaching vessels....