Costa Cruise Ship Adrift In Pirate-Infested Waters

"The passengers and crew are in safe condition," said Commander Cosimo Nicastro of the Italian coast guard, who are sending rescue vessels and tug boats to the ship’s location. "They are not necessarily comfortable because the ship only has emergency power on board, but they are safe.

"The winds right now are blowing at about 25 knots but we are not worried because it is a big ship, so the weather is not a concern," he went on to explain.

The biggest concern for loved ones awaiting news on the vacationers is the risk of Somali pirates, who had made a rash of recent attacks in the waters near Tanzania but they have never ambushed anything as large as a cruise ship.

Claudio Izzi, the Italian consul in the Seychelles, said a security detachment of nine Italian marines were on board and were “well trained and ready to  protect civilians,” reported the Telegraph.co.uk.

Among the 636 passengers stuck in the ship are eight Americans, who were hoping for the trip of a lifetime on the month-long cruise that was scheduled to make numerous stops at island nations off the east coast of Africa along the way to Savona, Italy.

Smaller than sister ship the Concordia, the 29,000-tonne Costa Allegra had left the port of Diego Suarez in Madagascar on Saturday and had been due to dock in Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, on Tuesday.