The Arabian Sea: The only further "anti-piracy" news I have to report is that security personnel supposedly prowled the promenade deck all of last night. This comes under the heading of doing things just to look busy, I fear. What about radar? Can't we detect approaching craft using technological means?
Later ... We have just traversed the Bab el Mandeb, now we are in the Red Sea with Africa to our west and Asia to our east. Troubled Yemen with its al Qaida units on the east, Djibouti with a NATO base to our west ... around the fabled Horn of Africa.
Now we sail north toward Aqaba, Jordan, passing the coasts of Saudi Arabia and Eritrea. No pirates so far, none were expected but it didn't hurt to be careful. Amazingly calm seas the whole trip from Singapore.
In the old days, British sailing to colonial India would stop at Aden ... nobody stops there today. I suppose Dubai hopes to become the "midway" stop.
