/ 8 November 2010

Hijacked yacht skipper safe

Hijacked Yacht Skipper Safe

The South African skipper of a yacht reportedly hijacked off the Seychelles was safe aboard a European Union warship, but the whereabouts of the other two crew members were unknown, the EU anti-piracy mission said on Monday.

“A South African yachtsman, who escaped capture by pirates when he refused to cooperate with them, was safely taken on board an EU Navfor warship on Sunday,” a statement said.

It said that the yacht had drawn the attention on Saturday of the French frigate, Floreal, because it was “suspiciously close to shore” off Somalia.

After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the yacht, including buzzing it with the Floreal‘s helicopter, the French warship launched a boarding team to investigate but came under fire from the yacht.

The EU vessel then received a Mayday call that pirates were on board and that the crew of three were under their control.

The French ship remained close by and saw the pirated yacht run aground near the shore early on Sunday.

The pirates attempted to take the three occupants ashore but “the South African skipper of the yacht refused to leave his vessel and the pirates left with the remaining two crew members as hostages”.

He was rescued but “the whereabouts of the other crew members are currently unknown, despite a comprehensive search by an EU Navfor helicopter”, the statement said.

Military helicopters
Local sources in Somalia reported at the weekend that pirates had seized a man and a woman from a yacht and opened fire on a third man who had resisted efforts to take him to shore.

“The only thing we can say at this stage is that we currently have one of the persons from the captured yacht on board one of our warships,” Lieutenant Colonel Per Klingvall, a spokesperson for the EU mission, told Agence France-Presse earlier.

He was unable to provide more details on the hijacking, the passengers or the health of the man.

The Somali local sources said on Sunday the two hostages were held in an inaccessible part of Barawe, southern Somalia, after having been seized from their yacht. Several helicopters had trailed the pirates as they reached land. — Sapa-AFP