Date: October 17, 2005
Bruise: Shots Fired
Bruise Location: At Sea Near Poland
Cruise Line: Adler-Schiffe Of Germany
Ship: Adler Dania
Details:
The Polish coast guard fired on a private German cruise ship on Tuesday as it fled Polish waters with two plainclothes customs officials from Poland on board.
The "Adler Dania," was on its way to visit the Polish Baltic Sea port of Swinoujscie and hoping to sell some duty free alcohol and cigarettes to its predominantly German passengers on the way.
The ship's itinerary included a brief stop in Poland, Polish plainclothes customs officials boarded the ship in the German port of Heringsdorf to have a closer look. They waited until the ship had entered the port of Swinoujscie before making their move.
The two Polish customs officials presented questionable identification, according to the captain and demanded to inspect the ship's alcohol and cigarette supplies.
The captain, Heinz Arendt, decided to turn his ship around and race for German waters. He was apparently concerned, in light of the customs raid, that the ship's entire stock of alcohol and cigarettes would be confiscated if he made it to port. There is a history of it with Poland, the cruise company complains.
Charges have already been filed against the Germans for attempting to dodge customs and hindering customs officials from doing their jobs. But does this situation warrant firing on cruise ship with innocent passengers onboard? Hardly.
In a day where pirates fire on, try to board, or board privately owned and publicly owned vessels everyday, it is an outrage that a government, such as Poland, would fire on a vessel, simply because they are selling duty free goods contrary to regulations, if that was the case, or simply because they have custom agents onboard.
Obviously that ship was going to have to pull into a port at some point in time, and the place to get justice would be in court of law, not on open seas with passengers onboard.
While pirates are known to board vessels near Germany or Poland, it is certainly worth noting that the risk of being fired on for petty reasons, is very real in other regions, other than off the coast of Somalia.
Short cruises over to Poland have become a popular German pasttime since Poland joined the European Union in 2004. Polish cigarettes sold on board are a bargain, with smokers saving up to €25 per carton. Some 500,000 passengers take advantage of the bargain cruises each year.
Polish Military Fires Shots At Cruise Ship
Adler Dania - Adler-Schiffe
October 17, 2006
