MUSCAT, Oman – Passengers on a luxury cruise liner attacked by pirates in the dangerous waters between Yemen and Somalia said Wednesday they were surprised by the assailants' boldness and described hearing the "Pop! Pop! Pop!" of the pirates' rifles firing at the ship.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, and pirates have taken advantage of the country's lawlessness to launch attacks on foreign shipping from the Somali coast.

Sunday's assault was not the first time a cruise liner has been attacked. In 2005, pirates opened fire on the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast. The faster cruise ship managed to escape and used a long-range acoustic device — which blasts a painful wave of sound — to distract the pirates.

"We had been reassured that they had these ghetto blasters that would go through them," said Lynne Pincini, of Australia. "Also, they said we could outrun anything, and we were in this corridor."