Michael Groves
What Really Happened Aboard Seabourn Spirit?
November 5, 2005 Somalian Pirate Attack Exposed
We all remember the case of the Seabourn Spirit pirate attack. At the time they tried to make it a non-issue. Pirates attempt attack, fire a few shots, crew respond with sonic blast, pirates go away. End of story.
The cruise line did a great job making it seem like business as usual, and a lot of people found the notion that pirates thought they could board a cruise ship pretty funny. Michael Groves was not amused.
The fact is, Seabourn Spirit was nearly boarded by pirates and no doubt a hostage situation would have played out just as it did with the Le Ponant, only with passengers involved if not for the bravery of Michael Groves.
For his heroic efforts, Groves received the Queen's Gallantry Medal from the Queen herself at Buckingham
Palace on May 16, 2007. Men are not labeled "heroes" and given medals for bravery by the Queen for 'minor events'. That was the first clue lots of information was missing about this incident, information Queen Elizabeth II had at hand.
You would think that if an employee was injured as he fought to save his life and the life of a co-worker who had been hit by gunfire in the head, was unconscious and bleeding, that would be enough for an employer to do the right thing.
Now add saving the lives of all crew and all passengers aboard as well as saving the ship from becoming a bargaining chip in a multi-million dollar demand of ransom by pirates. Wouldn't this good deed be worthy enough for the employer to have gratitude and pay the medical bills of the employee who fought so bravely?
After fighting off a dozen pirates who were trying to chop him down with military weapons and kill passengers, Groves now has to fight the cruise line just to get his medical bills paid. We know this, because the cruise line is still only acknowledging one crew member being hurt during the incident, and that icrew member is Som Bahadur Gurung. This is evidenced in Carnival Corp's April 15, 2009 stockholder's meeting. Carnival is not acknowledging that Groves was injured.
For Michael Groves, the story plays out much different, not at all how it unfolded in the media or by Carnival Corp. Groves, who says in his suit that he was severely injured in the attack, is suing Miami-based Carnival Corp and Seabourn Cruise Line, Carnival plc - all trading as Seabourn Cruise Line and Hong Kong-based Cunard Celtic because the company failed to do the right thing, and reward Mr. Groves with the medical care for his alleged injuries.
Mr. Groves says in his suit the cruise line was negligent in sailing the coast of Somalia after international warnings of pirate attacks were well-known, and that they deliberately sailed at too slow of a speed to fend off a potential pirate attack and their response to the pirate attack after their initial negligence resulted in a life-long disability for him.
At the time, Michael Groves was working as a security officer aboard Carnival Corp's Seabourn Spirit when pirates attacked the ship on November 5, 2005 with rifles and a rocket launcher. The pirates blew a hole in a passenger cabin as it sailed off the coast of Somalia. The media reported that incident as ammo landed on board, and nobody was injured.
Mr Groves, a 42-year-old crew member who was a former UK policeman, dodged the pirate's small arms fire and rocket-launched grenades, and used a fire hose to try to force the pirates away from the cruise ship. Two grenades were fired into the ship, but Mr Groves fought off the pirates and prevented them from boarding. When he was honored by the Queen for his bravery, Mr Groves said: "As soon as I went on the deck I came under automatic fire. A rocket grenade blew me off my feet."
The ship was just 71 miles off the Somalia coast, when the pirates in two fast open boats, armed with Kalashnikov AK47s and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher attacked.
I reopened this case while looking at the photograph below, after having not seen it for several years. Something wasn't right.
The mortar round seen in Image A has been largely distributed around the world as a mortar round stuck in the deck on Seabourn Spirit.
I saw it, and it just didn't make sense to me. I have never seen a cruise ship deck with a rectangular hole in it, with a wood and brass railing mounted across the middle. I tried to pinpoint exactly where on "deck" that location was.
Actually, the photo is turned the wrong way either by accident, or on purpose, deceiving millions of readers around the world.
The proper angle for the photograph is seen in Image B, at left. There, is the mortar round casing sticking out of the cabin wall of two elderly passengers. You would not guess that by looking at it.
You can see the railing that crosses the window in Image B at left, is the same type of railing crossing a passenger cabin in Image C below. The color is slightly distorted, appearing more purple than in Images C and D.
Image C shows the window curtain and protective wood railing that crosses the "window". This shows the hole the round left after it was removed from the ship by the U.S. military and the ship sailed on.
You can clearly see in Image C, the round is in the side of the ship, a little over a foot away from the cabin "window", where curtains are hung. That "window" is actually the sliding door of a suite with balcony.
Take a closer look at that railing. There is a piece of white fabric dangling from the railing. It is similar to the curtain hanging in the window that appears to be hanging roughly, even ragged, not nice and neat as normal.
The white fabric on the railing appears to have been blown out, snagging on the metal bracket hardware of the railing. A close look at this image tells us that things were not as reported. That cabin was severely damaged.
Note, the paint removed from the blast and percussion markings are identical in Images A, B and C. Clearly, they are all of the same exact area on the ship.
In Image D, you can see the rows of cabin windows and the railings that cross those suite balconies in the upper half of the window. Below the railing is a clear partition.
The red circle shows how the railing is seen to the right of the impact in one picture, and to the left of the impact in the other photographs.
Image A
Photograph is shown to look like the shell in on the deck
Image B
Photograph has been turned to the proper angle, showing a wall entry instead of a deck.
Image C
Shell casing has been removed from cabin wall, leaving just a hole.
Image D
Red circle shows impact zone shown in photos above.
