Mar 29 (THAINDIAN NEWS) In reports which were made by the U.S.Coast Guard, one Carnival Cruise turned very scary this past weekend. In the very early morning hours of Sunday, a frightening shout was heard on board the Carnival Sensation. Shouts of “We are jihad,” and “Come to the top deck and watch the bomb,” had Cruise goers wondering if they were under terrorist attack.

The words were later determined to be a not so funny hoax by a very inebriated man, Ibrahim Khalil Zarou of Leesburg, Virginia, who had been cruising as part of a party of 12. He was arrested by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department on charges of making a false bomb threat. Zarou, who is a heating and air conditioning salesman was released in $10,000 bond. His court date has not yet been set. The ‘threat’ was first reported to ship personnel around 4 am. On board Security personnel then conducted and exhaustive search for a bomb, according to USCG spokesman Christopher Evanson, Petty Officer First Class.

The words of the seemingly drunk man were reported by another passenger to the ship’s officials. The ship was then held four miles off of the coast of Florida for several hours while the boat was boarded by the Coast Guard as well as the FBI, and local sheriff deputies. The search included bomb sniffing dogs. It was conducted at Port Canaveral, which was the ship’s original destination, with a Unified Command established by several government agencies, such as the USCG, FBI, Transportation Safety Administration, Port Canaveral Police Department, Canaveral Fire and Rescue, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Federal Air Marshal’s Service, as well as Carnival Cruise Line. After they were sure that no bomb was on board, the ship was allowed to return to port. Since the ship’s arrival was 5 hours later than expected, many passengers had to rebook their flights home.

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