dan9999
10-29-2009, 12:20 PM
British Navy Finds Empty Yacht of Couple Allegedly Nabbed by Pirates
Thursday, October 29, 2009
FOX News
The British navy on Thursday found an empty yacht belonging to a British couple feared kidnapped by Somali pirates.
The Defense Ministry said Thursday the navy located the vessel belonging to Paul and Rachel Chandler floating in international waters overnight.
"The Royal Navy found the yacht drifting in what was called international waters and has taken a very close look at it," Sky News' foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall 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."
International naval forces have been hunting for the couple for days. The Chandlers were heading to Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival, when a distress signal was sent early Friday, according to the U.K. Maritime and Coast Guard Agency.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said the couple may have been transferred to another vessel by the pirates.
A European Union Naval Force spokesman in Somalia told Fox News on Wednesday that "various naval craft are in the area and aware of (the hijacked British) yacht's location."
He said reports stating that the yacht, allegedly hijacked by Somali pirates, has been spotted near Harardheere are "about right."
The pirates allegedly responsible for the hijacking off the Somali coast have threatened to "burn the bones" of the couple, according to Sky News.
Pirate Mohamed Hussein warned that any attack on his colleagues would endanger the lives of the alleged captive couple, Sky News reported.
"We are telling Britain that any bullet of our friends on the yacht will be big cries for the families of the two old people we held," said Hussein according to Sky News.
"We warn them any attack on us, this is a good advice for them, otherwise they will burn their two people's bones," said Hussein, according to Sky News.
Another pirate, Mohamud Noh, told Sky News by phone that he feared "warships" were targetting his colleagues.
"Any attack [on his colleagues] may endanger the lives of the two old people we captured," Noh told Sky News.
On Tuesday Naval Forces spotted a yacht towing two smaller boats behind it after Somali pirates claimed to have seized a British couple and their boat in the Indian Ocean during their round-the-world voyage.
Fears for the safety of Paul and Rachel Chandler from Tunbridge Wells have been mounting since the emergency beacon aboard their yacht, the Lynn Rival, went off last week.
Click to view Paul and Rachel Chandler's blog.
LIVESHOTS: British Couple Targeted by Pirates.
“We have captured two old British [people], a man and woman in the Indian Ocean, they were on a small boat that we have hijacked,” a pirate called Mohamed Shakir told The Times of London by phone from Haradheere in Somalia.
The pirate added that the two were “healthy and in our hands” but would not say where they would be taken. Ransom demands are likely to follow.
The U.K. Foreign Office said they have been in touch with the couple's family in England, and have contacted the Coast Guard in Seychelles, who continue to monitor the situatiion.
The Chandlers left the Seychelles last Thursday, heading for Tanzania via the Amirante Islands. Their emergency position-indicating radio beacon was activated on Friday.
The couple, both in their late 50s, have been sailing around the world. The last message on their blog, entered shortly before the distress signal was sent, reads simply: “PLEASE RING SARAH”.
The previous entry, written before leaving the Seychelles, was full of preparations for their voyage. “We’ll be at sea for 8 to 12 days, maybe 14 as we are now getting into the period of transition between the south monsoon and north monsoon, so the trade winds will be less reliable and we may get more light winds," they wrote.
In the past two weeks there have been at least five ships seized by pirates in the waters off the Seychelles. Activity has picked up in recent weeks as Monsoon winds and rains have died down.
This year there have been some 174 ships attacked by pirates off Somalia, 36 of which are being held. At least 587 people are being held hostage. Ransoms being paid out in recent months total in the tens of millions of dollars. The pace of hijackings is running ahead of last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See breaking story "British Couple Hijacked by Somali Pirates" here...
http://satfix.net/showthread.php?t=1336
---
Thursday, October 29, 2009
FOX News
The British navy on Thursday found an empty yacht belonging to a British couple feared kidnapped by Somali pirates.
The Defense Ministry said Thursday the navy located the vessel belonging to Paul and Rachel Chandler floating in international waters overnight.
"The Royal Navy found the yacht drifting in what was called international waters and has taken a very close look at it," Sky News' foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall 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."
International naval forces have been hunting for the couple for days. The Chandlers were heading to Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival, when a distress signal was sent early Friday, according to the U.K. Maritime and Coast Guard Agency.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said the couple may have been transferred to another vessel by the pirates.
A European Union Naval Force spokesman in Somalia told Fox News on Wednesday that "various naval craft are in the area and aware of (the hijacked British) yacht's location."
He said reports stating that the yacht, allegedly hijacked by Somali pirates, has been spotted near Harardheere are "about right."
The pirates allegedly responsible for the hijacking off the Somali coast have threatened to "burn the bones" of the couple, according to Sky News.
Pirate Mohamed Hussein warned that any attack on his colleagues would endanger the lives of the alleged captive couple, Sky News reported.
"We are telling Britain that any bullet of our friends on the yacht will be big cries for the families of the two old people we held," said Hussein according to Sky News.
"We warn them any attack on us, this is a good advice for them, otherwise they will burn their two people's bones," said Hussein, according to Sky News.
Another pirate, Mohamud Noh, told Sky News by phone that he feared "warships" were targetting his colleagues.
"Any attack [on his colleagues] may endanger the lives of the two old people we captured," Noh told Sky News.
On Tuesday Naval Forces spotted a yacht towing two smaller boats behind it after Somali pirates claimed to have seized a British couple and their boat in the Indian Ocean during their round-the-world voyage.
Fears for the safety of Paul and Rachel Chandler from Tunbridge Wells have been mounting since the emergency beacon aboard their yacht, the Lynn Rival, went off last week.
Click to view Paul and Rachel Chandler's blog.
LIVESHOTS: British Couple Targeted by Pirates.
“We have captured two old British [people], a man and woman in the Indian Ocean, they were on a small boat that we have hijacked,” a pirate called Mohamed Shakir told The Times of London by phone from Haradheere in Somalia.
The pirate added that the two were “healthy and in our hands” but would not say where they would be taken. Ransom demands are likely to follow.
The U.K. Foreign Office said they have been in touch with the couple's family in England, and have contacted the Coast Guard in Seychelles, who continue to monitor the situatiion.
The Chandlers left the Seychelles last Thursday, heading for Tanzania via the Amirante Islands. Their emergency position-indicating radio beacon was activated on Friday.
The couple, both in their late 50s, have been sailing around the world. The last message on their blog, entered shortly before the distress signal was sent, reads simply: “PLEASE RING SARAH”.
The previous entry, written before leaving the Seychelles, was full of preparations for their voyage. “We’ll be at sea for 8 to 12 days, maybe 14 as we are now getting into the period of transition between the south monsoon and north monsoon, so the trade winds will be less reliable and we may get more light winds," they wrote.
In the past two weeks there have been at least five ships seized by pirates in the waters off the Seychelles. Activity has picked up in recent weeks as Monsoon winds and rains have died down.
This year there have been some 174 ships attacked by pirates off Somalia, 36 of which are being held. At least 587 people are being held hostage. Ransoms being paid out in recent months total in the tens of millions of dollars. The pace of hijackings is running ahead of last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
---
See breaking story "British Couple Hijacked by Somali Pirates" here...
http://satfix.net/showthread.php?t=1336
---