Tourists on a luxury cruise were suddenly subject to a dusk-till-dawn blackout by the captain and ordered to go without the standard entertainment and trappings for ten days because of a “pirate threat”.

The 1,900 passengers aboard the Sea Princess, who had paid more than £30,000 for a 104-day world cruise departing from Sydney, were apparently stunned to learn that all curtains must be drawn and shutters closed as the vessel was turned into a “ghost ship”.

Describing the ordeal, Carolyne Jasinski, a passenger, said the blackout occurred for ten days as the ship travelled across the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.

She said Captain Gennaro Arma addressed the ship and apologised for alarming passengers but insisted the threat was real and the ship “must be prepared for a pirate attack”.