Cruise passengers allegedly warned to turn off lights as ship sails sea 'known for piracy threats'
User @lillydapink, also known as Lilly, said she was traveling on Cunard's Queen Anne cruise ship crossing from Darwin, Australia, to Manila, Philippines, and posted a video of the announcement.
"We will be operating at a heightened level of security alertness during this period," a woman can be heard saying over the intercom.
"During hours of darkness, only essential open deck lights will be on to reduce the ship's external lighting…We also suggest you turn off your stateroom lights and close the curtains in your stateroom bedroom or bathroom," the cruise worker said.
The announcement added that the ship's external decks will be closed overnight, not permitting guests to visit.
Lilly told Fox News Digital, "all the outside lights on open decks were turned off."
"The curtains and blinds were also closed to keep the ship as dark as possible," she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cunard for comment.
The video amassed more than half a million likes with social media users commenting their thoughts about the announcement.
"Bro my timbers would be shiveringggg," joked one user.
Another wrote, "The way i would crawl and hide under the bed."
"If a cruise or passenger vessel was attacked by Pirates, the response from naval vessels would be swift and sudden, moreso than if it was a regular merchant vessel," added a user.
"Well that sounds terrifying," one TikToker said.
"Not really it's just safety precautions the risk is very low," the video create said in a response to the comment.
"My toxic trait is thinking I could befriend the pirates," another user wrote.
"Well that's something you don't hear every cruise,
One said, "I would be on full blown pirate watch and no one would stop me."
Stewart Chiron, a Miami-based cruise industry expert known as "The Cruise Guy," told Fox News Digital that these areas are not normally visited except during world cruises.
"It's rare for cruise ships to traverse pirate infested areas and wouldn't do so if unsafe. Over the years, cruise ships have avoided these areas or sailed along with military escorts," said Chiron.
He added, "Very few ships [have] experience and security teams are continually reviewing current conditions before ships arrive in impacted areas."
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