2009's third yacht seized by Somalis - four sailors and child held

by BW Media roundup on 9 Apr 2009 Authorities in France have released details about a French yacht which has been seized by pirates in the last few days, 500 miles off the Somali coast. Five French nationals are being held including a three-year-old child. It is the third yacht hijacked so far in 2009, making this year already the worst on record.

The sailing yacht Tanit had two couples and a three-year-old boy on board when attacked. The boat had set out from Vannes on France's Atlantic coast in July last year heading for the archipelago of Zanzibar before it was seized.

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said today that authorities now know where the hijacked yacht is being held.

Mr Kouchner told the press: 'We know where they are. Even if I had details, I would not give them because this anti-piracy operation initiated by France now involves several countries.'

French couple Chloe and Florent Lemacon left France with their son Colin, then two years old, aboard the 42ft flush-decked Colin Archer cutter and picked up another couple along the way. They were planning to sail via Kenya.

The boat was seized mid-ocean, about 500 miles from the Somali coast and about 1,000 miles from the Seychelles. Florent Lemacon had told his father just before the attack that they had lost the use of the engine. They said that they knew the risks and had taken what they considered to be the least dangerous route through the northern Indian Ocean. Unluckily for them the pirates seem now to have turned their attention southward, just where they were sailing.

The father also told French press that that the crew were experienced sailors who knew the risks. He added that they are penniless, unemployed liveaboards with no means of paying a ransom.

Writing on their internet blog two weeks before the hijacking, Chloe and Florent Lemacon said that they had started sailing with the lights off to avoid detection. 'We are in the middle of the piracy zone, but so far there is nothing to report.

'The danger is there and has indeed become greater over the past months, but the ocean is vast. The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream,' they wrote.

The French navy had strongly advised Tanit's crew against travelling to Kenya and warned them of the serious risk posed by pirates in the waters off the coast of Somalia, an army spokesman said.

'They met the crew of the surveillance ship Floreal on March 20 and were strongly advised not to pursue the trip to Kenya, even at great distance from the Somali coast, said army spokesman Christophe Prazuck.

An email message was sent to Tanit on March 27 stating that sailing to Kenya was 'very dangerous' due to a spike in the number of pirate attacks.

France is the only country so far to have intervened successfully for attacked yachts, having used commando type operations to release two previous yachts.