Achille Lauro

The "Achille Lauro", originally the "Willem Ruys", was a passenger liner. It is most remembered for its 1985 hijacking.

Concept and construction

Ordered in 1938, her keel was laid in 1939 at Vlissingen, Netherlands, for Rotterdamsche Lloyd. Interrupted by World War II and two bombing raids, the ship was not launched until July 1946 as the "Willem Ruys". Completed in late 1947, she began her maiden voyage on December 2, 1947. She was convert|192|m|ft|0 in length, convert|25|m|ft|0 in beam, had a draught of convert|8.9|m|ft|1, and measured 21,119 gross register tons. Eight Sulzer engines drove driving two propellers. She could accommodate 900 passengers.

ervice history

As the "Achille Lauro"

In 1964, she was sold to the Flotta Lauro Line, or Star Lauro, (Now MSC Cruises) and renamed the "Achille Lauro" (after the former mayor of Naples, Achille Lauro). The same year, Star Lauro also acquired the "Achille Lauro"'s sister ship, Angelina Lauro. Extensively rebuilt and modernized, Achille Lauro entered service in 1966. The Achille Lauro played a role in evacuating the families of British servicemen caught up in the Six Day War, arriving in Cairo on June 1 1967. The Achille Lauro was destroyed by fire on November 30, 1994, and sank as a result of the fire three days later on December 2 [http://www.ssmaritime.com/achillelauro.htm] . Another ship, the Angelina Lauro, which used to operate for the Lauro lines, was also destroyed by fire and sank in 1979.

1985 hijacking

On October 7, 1985, four men representing the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) took control of the liner off Egypt as she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said within Egypt.

The hijackers had been surprised by a crew member and acted prematurely. Holding the passengers and crew hostage, they directed the vessel to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians then in Israeli prisons. After being refused permission to dock at Tartus, the hijackers murdered one wheelchair-bound passenger – an American named Leon Klinghoffer – because he was Jewish, and threw his body overboard. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=981987&contrassID=2&subContrassID=16 Klinghoffer daughters recall personal tragedy at commemoration of terror victims outside Israel - Haaretz - Israel News ] ] The ship headed back towards Port Said, and after two days of negotiations the hijackers agreed to abandon the liner for safe conduct and were flown towards Tunisia aboard an Egyptian commercial airliner.

The plane was intercepted by F-14A Tomcats from the VF-74 "BeDevilers" and the VF-103 "Sluggers" of airwing 17 (stationed on the USS Saratoga, CV-60) USS Saratoga on October 10 and directed to land at Naval Air Station Sigonella, a N.A.T.O. base in Sicily, where the hijackers were arrested by the Italians [Heymann, Philip B., (2001), "Terrorism and America: A Commonsense Strategy for a Democratic Society". Cambridge, Massachusettes, The MIT Press.] after a disagreement between U.S. and Italian authorities. The other passengers on the plane (possibly including the hijackers' leader, Abu Abbas) were allowed to continue on to their destination, despite protests by the U.S. Egypt demanded an apology from the U.S. for forcing the airplane off course.

Disagreement between Italy and U.S.

The Italian prime minister Bettino Craxi claimed Italian territorial rights over the NATO base and Italian Air Force and Carabinieri lined up facing the American Navy SEALs which had arrived with two C-141's. Other Carabinieri were sent from Catania to reinforce the Italians. It was the gravest diplomatic crisis between Italy and United States and was resolved five hours later.

Hijackers

The fate of those convicted of the hijacking is varied:

* Bassam al-Asker was granted parole in 1991. He died on February 21, 2004.
* Ahmad Marrouf al-Assadi disappeared in 1991 while on parole.
* Youssef al Molqi was sentenced to 30 years, left the Rebibbia prison in Rome on February 16, 1996, on a 12 day furlough, and fled to Spain, where he was recaptured and extradited back to Italy.
* Abu Abbas left the jurisdiction of Italy and was convicted "in absentia". In 1996, he made an apology for the hijacking and murder, and spoke out in favor of peace talks between Palestinians and Israel; the apology was rejected by the U.S. government and Klinghoffer's family, who insisted he be brought to justice. Abbas was captured in Iraq in 2003 by the U.S. military during its 2003 invasion of Iraq. He died in U.S. custody March 8, 2004.
* Ibrahim Fatayer Abdelatif was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. He served 20 and three more on parole and on July 7, 2008 he was expelled from an illegal immigrant detention center in Rome. He plans to appeal this arguing that he has nowhere else to go since Lebanon will not allow his return as he was born in a refugee camp thus not a Lebanese citizen. [ [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gM_JfCvukAhHFodaSjyxyE5ZtyXAD91P6QMO1 Italy frees hijacker of Achille Lauro cruise ship] - AP - July 7, 2008 - Retrieved July 8, 2008]

The PLO was sued for its role in the death of Leon Klinghoffer. The $1.5 billion suit was dropped when the PLO paid an undisclosed sum to Klinghoffer's daughters. The family founded the Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer Memorial Foundation in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat terrorism through legal, political and educational means.

Later years

The ship continued in service; she was reflagged in 1987 when the Lauro Line became StarLauro. On November 30, 1994, she caught fire off the coast of Somalia. Abandoned, the vessel sank on December 2.

See also

* Abu Abbas
* "Lauro Lines s.r.l. v. Chasser et al.", the U.S. Supreme Court case in the aftermath of this incident
* List of hostage crises
* The 1979 Nahariya attack

References

External links

* [http://www.ssmaritime.com/willemruys.htm ss Maritime History- Willem Ruys/Achille Lauro]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A730900 H2G2- Achille Lauro hijacking]
* [http://www.specialoperations.com/Images_Folder/library2/achille.html Special Operations website- Achille Lauro hijacking]