|
Sail-World.com : Released hostage sailors' regrets - first interview
Released hostage sailors' regrets - first interview
|
|
|
'Johansen family and crew, before their kidnap by pirates'
.
|
A Danish family who were held hostage by Somali pirates for more than six months said in an interview they gave to a Danish newspaper this week that they decided to sail alone through the dangerous waters off the Horn of Africa, hoping to sneak through safely.
The parents, Jan Quist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie, their teenagers, Rune, Hjalte and Naja and two other crew were kidnapped on Feb. 24 after their yacht ING was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.
 | Jan Quist Johansen: 'It was the decision of my life that I regret most.' - .. . |
Jan Quist Johansen added that he wished they had never sailed into the pirate-infested waters off the Horn of Africa. 'It was the decision of my life that I regret the most,' he said in the first interview since the family's release.
In the beginning the kidnappers demanded $5 million for the release of the family. After being seized the captives were taken to the village of Hul-Anod in the self-proclaimed autonomous region of Puntland in the northeast of Somalia.
Government troops tried unsuccessfully to free them on March 10, and they were taken back to their yacht and then transferred to the pirates' mother ship, a Greek vessel captured earlier.
They were then anchored at Gumbah, Bari, in the Baargal region where it was apparently easier to avoid government forces.
The family had left Denmark in August 2009 to sail round the world, planning to return at the end of this year. Two companions accompanied them.
They had made the decision to sail through the pirate zone alone and not in a convoy with other yachts, hoping the vastness of the sea would help protect them.
The Danes traveled without lights and any electronic equipment that would make them visible. They kept radio silence and also deliberately gave wrong information about their position on the Internet.
In the interview they explained why they chose to 'go it alone': 'A convoy is a smorgasbord for the pirates. They are both fearless and have no scruples,' his wife, Marie Quist Johansen, was quoted by the Politiken Daily, to whom they gave the interview, as saying. 'They can start shooting at the first (boat) to show that they are serious, and take all they can handle.'
 | Johansen’s yacht ING - .. . |
But seven days after leaving the Maldives for Oman, a fishing boat with five pirates armed with AK-47 assault rifles abruptly ended their idyllic round-the-world journey.
The family immediately sent out an SOS that it was under attack, hid its GPS and threw an emergency position-indicating radio beacon into the ocean. The family's emergency calls were heard, but too late, its members said.
Marie told the newspaper they 'cried and were afraid many times' but their Somali captors never hit them. They also were able to stay together during the ordeal that ended on Sept. 6.
'They are only interested in money and if they don't get it fast enough, something bad would have happened to us,' the Jan told Politiken.
Danish officials have refused to comment on whether a ransom was paid, and the family didn't tell Politiken if any money were involved in their release.
by Nancy Knudsen
Click on the FB Like link to post this story to your FB wall
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=90054
9:17 AM Fri 28 Oct 2011 GMT
Click here for printer friendly version
Click here to send us feedback or comments about this story.
Click for further information on
Piracy and the Cruising sailor
Related News Stories:
MORE STORIES ...
|
|
|
Our Advertisers are committed to our sport, please support them!
This site and its contents are © Copyright TetraMedia Pty. Ltd and/or the original author, photographer etc. All Rights Reserved.
Photographs are copyright by law. If you wish to use or buy a photograph you must contact the photographer directly (there is a hyperlink in most cases to their website, or do a Google search.) with your request.
Please do not contact
Sail-World.com
as we cannot give permission for use of other photographer’s images.
Only if the photographer named on the image is Sail-world.com, Powerboat-world.com, Marinebusiness-world.com or NZBoating-World.com.
Contact us
.
Ph: +61 2 8006 1873
or complete our
feedback form
Contact us
.
View our Privacy Policy.
[ Go Home]
[ Banner Advertising Specification]
[Bot Archive ]
Customised news feeds -Marine Industry companies, Clubs and Associations have their own customised version of our news feed on their website.
Look_here_to_see_examples
|
CLD
| | |
