Key West, Florida. July 25, 2008.

NEW YORK — Piracy is an important issue and Carnival Corp. is working with the U.S. military and British Ministry of Defence to protect its passengers and crew from any attacks, the cruise ship operator told its shareholders Wednesday.

Concerns about piracy have increased since Somali pirates took an American freighter captain hostage off Africa’s eastern coast earlier this month.

“We take it extremely seriously,” Carnival’s Chief Operating Officer Howard Frank said in response to a question at Carnival’s annual meeting of shareholders. “We’d never put any passenger in jeopardy or crewmember.” …

In 2005, a cruise ship sailing under Carnival’s luxury Seabourn brand — which operates cruises to destinations in Africa and the Middle East — was attacked by armed pirates off the Somali coast.

The captain evaded the attack and none of the ship’s 151 passengers was hurt, although one member of the 161-person crew was injured.

Excerpted from ‘Carnival cruise line takes piracy ‘extremely seriously,” by Kristen A. Lee. Appeared on April 15, 2009, in the USA Today.