Somali Pirates Hijack British Boat Couple
Somali pirates say they have hijacked the boat of a British couple sailing off the coast of Africa.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were heading for Tanzania f...
Somali Pirates Hijack British Boat Couple
Somali pirates say they have hijacked the boat of a British couple sailing off the coast of Africa.
Paul and Rachel Chandler were heading for Tanzania from the Seychelles in their 38ft yacht, the Lynn Rival. 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. He said the two captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow. Two Royal Navy ships are now searching the area.
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." Two days earlier they wrote that they were saying farewell to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean - and were bound for Tanzania more than 500 miles away. "We'll be at sea for eight 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," they said. "We probably won't have satellite phone coverage until we're fairly close to the African coast, so we may be out of touch for some time."
The last entries on the Chandlers' blog before they went missing Elsewhere the couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, who have been sailing around the world for several years after selling up in the UK - wrote of "the Somali pirate problem" that delayed other voyages to Tanzania. An American intelligence memo said a merchant ship was stormed 113 miles from the Lynn Rival's last position just 19 hours earlier. "Pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades opened fire on a bulk carrier. The pirates took hostage 26 crew members." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the report. We are investigating urgently."
Paul Chandler at work on his boat Light winds in the Seychelles region in recent weeks have given rise to a spate of hijack attempts as pirates make use of the fair conditions. An Indian cargo ship was hijacked off the coast of the Seychelles last Wednesday, and its more than two dozen crew members have not been heard from since. It was also reported that several Spanish trawlers working near the Seychelles are employing former British soldiers as armed guards. In June, 64-year-old Briton Malcolm Robertson was killed in front of his wife by pirates and his body thrown overboard to sharks off the coast of Thailand.
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Let these two dumb-asses be a lesson to everyone. Despite warnings these 2 dumb-asses chartered through Pirate waters. One thing they weren't protected from was; their own stupidity.
Here is my suggestion for anybody going into any dangerzone, trouble hotspots, etc. When you go to places where kidnapping is rife, why isnt there some kind of device or chip that can be slipped under the skin like the female contraceptive implant. This can then be used to track your exact whereabouts should you be unfortunate enough to be held to ransom.
Stupid, stupid people. Stary eyed Christians probably, with their heads betwen the cheeks of their arses. The world is not all good out there. Your retirementa and comfortable nest-egg will not be so great if you get killed by badit noggers off the coast of Seychelles
What a set up, i hope they arrest their asses as soon as they get back to the UK. Please, please, this is soooooo see through. What shit actors aswell.
Just dropped their demand from $7 million to £100,000 bwhaaaaa governments called their bluff, what they gonna do kill themselves!!!!!
Agreed! They were told not to go due to the dangers from Pirates in the area but no they stubbornly went anyway. And now some fuckers got to pay their ransom. Stupid people deserve all they get!
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1 - Pay them.
2 - Send in the S.A.S and have all of them horrible cunts slaughtered.
Despite warnings these 2 dumb-asses chartered through Pirate waters.
One thing they weren't protected from was; their own stupidity.
Stary eyed Christians probably, with their heads betwen the cheeks of their arses.
The world is not all good out there.
Your retirementa and comfortable nest-egg will not be so great if you get killed by badit noggers off the coast of Seychelles
Please, please, this is soooooo see through. What shit actors aswell.
Just dropped their demand from $7 million to £100,000 bwhaaaaa governments called their bluff, what they gonna do kill themselves!!!!!