Somali Pirates Hijack British Boat Couple

[Lysfoss]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091027/twl-somali-pirates-hijack-british-boat-c-3fd0ae9.html

[Kelvin Davies]

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.
The Somalis have apparently not yet noticed the boat's EPIRB is still chucking out regular position updates. Others have. The latest update was received while a bloke from a Merchant Navy security group was being interviewed on BBC radio.

[Lysfoss]

HI

Yeah will be intresting to see. They must have no fear in pirates if they went sailing in those waters! on a little tiny boat Not in a million years would i... Thats Looking for trouble and its stupid.

[Lysfoss]

Navy Finds Yacht After Brit Pair's Hijack

Sailors searching for a British couple said to have fallen victim to pirates in the sea off Somalia have spotted a yacht towing two smaller boats behind it.
 
Somali pirates say they have hijacked a 38ft yacht belonging to Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were heading for Tanzania from the Seychelles.

Their route would have taken the couple, in their 60s, near Somalian waters which are notorious for attacks on ships and smaller boats.

"The British couple are in our hands now. We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean," a pirate called Hassan told the Reuters news agency earlier.

He said the two captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow.

Sky News understands the couple were taken on Sunday, 950 miles from the Somali coast.

They are said to have offered no resistance to the gang, who are believed to operate from the Somali port of Harardhere which is a notorious base for pirates.

Counter piracy rescue teams have been scouring the area after a distress signal was received from their yacht on Friday.

Combined Task Force 151, an international naval response set up to combat Somali pirate attacks, are involved along with Nato and European Union servicemen.

Leah Mickleborough, the couple's niece, said: "When you hear of things like this you possibly expect the worst might have happened but you always hope that it hasn't.

Ms Mickleborough, who last saw the couple five weeks ago when they flew to the UK to attend her wedding, said sailing was their passion.

"This is their life, really. They do sailing, they live for this," she said.

"They are not naive. They are very experienced in these things. They are not the sort of people who would put themselves deliberately in danger."

The Foreign Office said it was urgently investigating after the ship reportedly sent a distress signal. It has not been heard from since.

The last message on their extensive travel blog, posted on Friday morning, reads simply: "Please ring Sarah."

It is thought the message was to Mrs Chandler's sister, believed to live in the London area

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091027/twl-navy-finds-yacht-after-brit-pair-s-h-3fd0ae9.html

[Lysfoss]

'Pirate Kidnap' Couple's Yacht Found Empty

A yacht belonging to a British couple allegedly kidnapped by pirates near Somalia has been found drifting with no one on board.

Retired quantity surveyor Paul Chandler, 59, and his economist wife Rachel, 55, disappeared after sailing their vessel, the Lynn Rival, from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The Royal Navy found the yacht drifting in what was called international waters and has taken a very close look at it.

"It is probable that the British couple were transferred from the yacht onto the (pirates') skiffs and then taken into the port in Somalia.

"This is quite normal, it's not unusual and the yacht itself is not that much use to the pirates."

Keeping the vessel could lead international forces to the alleged pirates' hideout, he said.

"I've been told the Navy has taken what was called 'a very good look' at the yacht and there is no reason to believe the couple has been harmed - no bullet casings, no blood," Marshall added.

The Lynn Rival was spotted off the east coast of Africa, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "They (the Chandlers) were not on board and we have no reason to believe that they have been harmed."

A news agency was contacted on Tuesday by a man claiming to be a pirate who warned that ransom demands would follow after saying the couple were "in our hands".

The Chandlers' relatives met Somali premier Omar Sharmarke in London on Wednesday, after which he pledged to do everything to "see a peaceful solution".

Mrs Chandler's brother, Stephen Collett, 58, of Ixworth, Suffolk, said the captors saw the couple as "trade goods".

"He (Mr Sharmarke) told us they (the pirates) do look after hostages well as they see them as trade goods and want to keep them so they can barter," he said.

"Unfortunately they have no money - it's all in the yacht."

More to follow...




http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091029/tuk-pirate-kidnap-couple-s-yacht-found-e-45dbed5.html

[miraflores]

Highjacked sailing vessel found

http://www.eunavfor.eu/2009/10/sailing-vessel-found-by-eunavfor-confirmed-as-lynn-rival/

Rgds.
Juergen

[Ian Thomas]

A ransom of $7m is the demand from the Somali pirates for the British couple http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8335074.stm

Ian Thomas