/ 10 November 2010

Yacht owner back in SA after pirate attack

The South African man saved by European Union naval forces after his yacht was attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia has arrived in South Africa, the international relations department said on Wednesday.

“Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane announces that the South African national who was rescued by EU naval forces from a yacht off the coast of Somalia over the past weekend following an attack by pirates has safely arrived in South Africa and was received by support staff of the government,” spokesperson Saul Kgomotso Molobi said in a statement.

“Sustained efforts to attain the release of two other South African nationals being held by as yet unidentified parties in Somalia are continuing,” he added.

Beeld newspaper on Wednesday named the man as Peter Eldridge, an engineer from Richard’s Bay. He reportedly refused to get off the yacht, which he built himself, when pirates attacked.

But two other people who were on the yacht with him, identified by Beeld as Bruno Pelizzari and his partner Debbie, were taken hostage.

The South African High Commissioner to Kenya, Ndumiso Ntshinga, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday the couple were abducted on Sunday.

“We have no information on the two, except that the last time they were seen was when they were taken off the yacht,” said Ntshinga. “We are still trying to find out where they are but we are also hoping that at some point the kidnappers would make contact … [and] maybe demand a ransom and all that, but we have not heard from them yet.”

Increased hijackings
Earlier this month, the United Nations said that Somali pirates have increased the number of successful hijackings in 2010, become more violent and expanded their attack zone.

The pirates staged 37 successful hijackings of ships in the first 10 months of 2010, up from 33 in the same period of 2009, said a report. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the pirates a “scourge”.

International Maritime Organisation (IMO) inquiries “imply that the level of violence employed by the pirates has increased”, said the UN document prepared for the UN Security Council.

The number of attacks has fallen from 193 to 164 as the international naval patrols are more effective, the UN said, quoting IMO figures.

The pirates have increased their scope of action in the Indian Ocean by setting up bigger attack fleets.

So-called “Pirate Action Groups” now see a large “mother boat” command vessel tow two or three attack skiffs out deeper into the ocean.

It said some of the attacks were now up to 1 300 nautical miles off the coast.

The international military presence has reduced the number of attacks and hijackings in the Gulf of Aden shipping lanes, but the pirates now roam the southern end of the Red Sea and even venture as far as the Maldives, the report said. — Sapa, AFP