News Archive

Navy pirate protection inadequate for ships - what chance for yachts? By Sail-World Cruising, , 3:09 PM Tue 4 Oct 2011
In a speech that showed just how little chance yachts and their crews have of having the protection of navies from pirates as they cross the Indian Ocean, the Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has called for more Navy Forces for the protection of ships. ...[more]

Somali pirates ready for renewed raiding season By Ecoterra/Sail-World, , 8:34 AM Sat 1 Oct 2011
Somali pirates are preparing for a new raiding season, taking advantage of the calmer seas after the monsoon period, as their ties with Islamist rebels come under closer scrutiny. The end of the monsoon also heralds the season for brave- or these days foolhardy - cruising sailors to venture across the Indian Ocean in an attempt to take the short route via the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. ...[more]

South Africa stays firm - no ransom payment for cruising sailors By TimesLive/Sail-World Cruising, 10:00 AM Tue 27 Sep 2011
Somali pirates who kidnapped Durban couple Bruno Pelizzari and Deborah Calitz almost a year ago have promised to kill them if the $4-million ransom is not paid soon. However, the South African Government, along with the British Government and many others, considers that the payment of ransoms by governments will only increase the risk to future sailors, and have refused. ...[more]

Dangers of Gulf of Aden Convoys: A previous convoy leader warns By Tom Sampson/Sail-World Cruising, , 9:41 AM Fri 23 Sep 2011
In 2010 Tom Sampson, a retired British Royal Air Force officer, organised a convoy through the Gulf of Aden for 27 yachts. To do so, he devised a military-style set of guidelines which, while the convoys had some scary moments, served them well and was to be used as a blueprint for future convoys. However, in Sampson's opinion the 'game changed' in 2011: ...[more]

Murdered American cruising sailors 'took a short cut' By Lee Mylchreest, 7:01 AM Sat 17 Sep 2011
Two British sailors who have just completed a circumnavigation have spoken out about the four American cruising sailors who were murdered by Somali pirates in February this year. They believe that the four, Phyllis Macay, Robert Riggle and Jean and Scott Adam on their yacht Quest had 'taken a short cut and sailed further out into the Indian ocean where it was boarded and the tragedy took place.' ...[more]

Message from two killings in a week: Stay away from Somali waters! By Lee Mylchreest, , 11:52 AM Tue 13 Sep 2011
If cruising sailors are not yet convinced that they should not sail in the West Indian Ocean, there have been two killings over the past week. We reported earlier this week that a French cruising sailor had been killed and thrown overboard by Somali pirates and his wife kidnapped. Now Somalis have shot dead a tourist on coastal border region between Somalia and Kenya, and kidnapped his wife. ...[more]

Troops storm pirate skiff, free one French sailor - three missing By Sail-World Cruising round-up, 3:20 PM Sun 11 Sep 2011
Spanish troops have stormed a pirate skiff in the Gulf of Aden and rescued a French hostage sailor missing from her yacht Tribal Kat, but found no trace of her husband or of two other crew reported to be on board. ...[more]

Pirate scare in Gulf of Aden - French yacht found empty By Des Ryan, , 6:37 AM Sat 10 Sep 2011
Confusion surrounds the fate of two yachts, reportedly French, which left the port of Aden in Yemen on or about 4th September, headed for Omani waters. On board one yacht was a couple, and there were four crew on the other. ...[more]

Seven Danish cruising sailors released by Somali Pirates By Sail-World Cruising round-up, , 4:57 PM Thu 8 Sep 2011
Cruising sailors around the world will rejoice that members of a Danish family held hostage by Somali pirates for more than six months have been released. They are returning home after enduring 'the most horrible ordeal one can imagine', Danish government officials have said. ...[more]

Copycat piracy is cause for concern in West Africa By Des Ryan, , 10:49 AM Mon 5 Sep 2011
One of the joys of sailing is the freedom to go where you want when you want. While all sensible cruising sailors are now avoiding the western Indian Ocean as too dangerous to sail, latest reports also suggest that West African pirates are copy-catting their Somali counterparts and cruising sailors are best to avoid these areas as well. ...[more]

Pirate victim sailors preparing to sail again By Lee Mylchreest, , 1:20 PM Fri 2 Sep 2011
You could be forgiven for thinking they would never sail again. After the horrific experiences that Paul and Rachel Chandler suffered at the hands of Somali pirates, it would have come as no surprise to the sailing world if they had shunned the idea of ever getting on board a boat again, especially the one which must have so many grisley reminders of their year in captivity in Somalia.. ...[more]

Book of the Week - Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters By Nancy Knudsen, , 1:06 PM Sun 28 Aug 2011
The UK's Daily Mail is proud of their 'World Exclusive', a synopsis extract of the book that we always knew was coming. It's the book that has just been published by Paul and Rachel Chandler who became world figures when they were kidnapped by Somali Pirates and held for over a year until a ransom was paid for their release. ...[more]

Somali pirates get life for American cruising sailors deaths By Des Ryan, 9:22 AM Wed 24 Aug 2011
Two Somali pirates were sentenced to life in prison this week for their roles in the hijacking of a yacht that left all four American cruising sailors on board their yacht dead. The four had been participating in the Blue Water round world Rally, since disbanded, with about twenty other yachts when the shooting occurred. ...[more]

So you still want to sail through the Gulf of Aden? By Sail-World Cruising round-up, , 11:30 AM Sun 17 Jul 2011
So you have an ambition to circumnavigate the world, and, in spite of all the warnings you still want to sail your cruising boat through the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea? Despite the horrors and the incidents in the last year - nine cruising sailors still in captivity and four shot dead, scores of sailors did take yachts into the dangerous waters off the Horn of Africa this year. ...[more]

Somali pirates - why do they prey on cruising yachts? By Michael Howorth, AW Yacht Management/Sail-World, 12:49 PM Wed 13 Jul 2011
Why did Somali pirates suddenly start preying on cruising sailors in comparatively small sailing yachts, which could hardly be expected to yield the kind of ransom that a supertanker could? Here is how Maritime risks expert and founder of c-level Maritime Risks, a US-based emerging risks consultancy, Michael Frodl explained it when interviewed ...[more]

Accused Somali pirate pleads guilty to murder of cruising sailors By Sail-World Cruising round-up, 8:42 AM Sat 21 May 2011
While the sailing community will remain sad and scarred by the deaths of four American cruising sailors at the hands of Somali pirates for some time to come, one chapter in the tragic tale appears to be nearing its end. Five Somali men have pleaded guilty to charges of piracy and hostage taking of the yacht Quest off the coast of Oman in February in a hijacking that left the four Americans dead. ...[more]

Cruising sailor tells: How we survived the Somali pirate zone By Graeme Mulcahy, SY Kathleen Love/Sail-World, , 7:00 AM Tue 26 Apr 2011
As the range and ferocity of Indian Ocean piracy rapidly increased this year, scores of cruising sailors became trapped in the Maldives and India. Their plans of how to transit the danger zone, derived from successful transits of convoys from earlier years, had to be scrapped. What was meant to be the adventure of a lifetime had become a nightmare. Graeme Mulcahy tells their tale. ...[more]

IMO pleads with ISAF to keep cruising sailors away from Somali waters By Sail-World Cruising, 11:40 AM Fri 22 Apr 2011
In spite of the fact that ISAF, the IMO and the various navies who are patrolling the region have been strongly advising leisure yachts to avoid the piracy zone of the Indian Ocean, the recent tragedy of four American cruising sailors killed by pirates and the kidnapping of a Danish family including three children has prompted more action by the IMO ...[more]

Violent Somali piracy at an all-time high By Sail-World Cruising, 4:56 PM Tue 19 Apr 2011
It is not only the long range cruising sailor who is now on high alert about the piracy danger of the Indian Ocean. The murder of four American sailors changed the game effectively for any would-be circumnavigators, but violence and the number of murders are also higher than ever in the commercial maritime world. ...[more]

Pirate researched cruising sailors blog to establish ransom By TPM/Sail-World Cruising, 12:43 PM Sat 16 Apr 2011
The fact that a pirate in a leadership role used the Internet to research the four Americans on board the yacht Quest, who were killed by the boarding team of 14 pirates, sends an alarming message to cruising sailors who divulge a lot of information about themselves in cruising blogs. ...[more]

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