Second yacht taken by pirates near Seychelles

by BW Media round-up on 3 Apr 2009 In an action that suggests that Somali pirate gangs have been forced south in their desperate bid to continue holding boats for ransom, a second yacht has been hijacked off the Seychelle Islands.

The motor yacht had just dropped its tourists, but still had its crew of seven Seychellois on board when taken.

The Indian Ocean Explorer, owned by London based Aquatours, had dropped off its contingent of tourists before it was seized, said Kirk Green, director of the company. The Indian Ocean Explorer is normally used for diving tours in Seychelles waters and as far away as Madagascar.

Green said the British Navy had informed him of the hijacking, and e-mailed him to say the boat would be taken to Harardhere, a pirate stronghold north of Mogadishu. Green said he was told to expect the ship to be held about three months.

'It's the first time it's happened to us, so it's a bit of a shock at the moment,' he told news agencies. 'Obviously one of the feelings we have is relief because none of our clients were taken. But on the other hand, we are extremely concerned about our crew.'

All seven crew members are from the Seychelles, he said. The two crew on the sailing yacht that were kidnapped last week were also from the Seychelles.

Green said he did not know the boat's exact location when it was seized or where it was headed when it was taken.

Diving, fishing and sightseeing tours on the seven-bedroom boat start at $3,000, and the majority of customers are British, he said. The ship can carry 14 passengers along with crew.

Green said the converted oceanographic research ship was formerly Swiss-owned. The boat was recently resold, and he could not confirm the identity or nationality of the new owners.

'This is not a boat that transports crews around the world and is worth huge amounts of money,' Green said. 'This boat operates really for the love of it, and if we manage to break even at the end of the day, we're really lucky.'

Recently the presence of large numbers of ships from many nations and the establishment of a security zone for the safe passage of vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden to or from the Red Sea has deterred pirates.

Last week, pirates attacked a German military supply ship, which returned fire, pursued the seven pirates and then detained them with help of other ships participating in the anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa.

It is estimated that Somali pirates had made $80million in the last year alone, before the security zone was firmly established.