The Truth is out - British Navy watched pirate kidnap of sailors

by International News/Sail-World Cruising on 14 Nov 2009 The truth is now out.

It has been confirmed that a British Royal Navy ship actually watched Somali pirates kidnap British cruising sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler on the high seas, British authorities said Friday.

Other reports say there's reason to hope they could be released within a month.

Previously the British Defense Ministry was reported as saying that it could not rescue the couple on Oct. 23 because the couple was already on the pirates' ship and their yacht Lynn Rival was already abandoned when the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Wave Knight arrived at the scene.

But a ministry spokesman confirmed Friday the Wave Knight arrived as the couple was being transferred from their yacht to the pirate's ship 50 feet away. The crew was ordered not to intervene because the pirates were carrying AK-47 assault rifles and there was fear a gun battle would result in the hostages being killed.

This harks back to the tragic death of kidnapped French cruising sailor Florent Lemacon. When French commandos attempted a rescue of him and his wife and crew, he was killed by a French commando bullet, not by the pirates.

Supply ship RFA Wave Knight, which regularly operates out of Plymouth, was sent to intercept the pirates as they grabbed the couple from their yacht on the night of October 28. But the crew, made up of 75 merchant seaman and 25 Navy sailors, were under orders not to fire in case the hostages were caught in a bloody gun fight or killed there and then.

They conducted a three-hour battle with the pirates' mothership, the Kota Wajar, a container ship which was en route to capture Mr and Mrs Chandler, and tried to head it off-course. But their efforts were to no avail as the Chandlers were transferred by small boat from their yacht to the mothership just 50ft away from them.

RFA Wave Knight was dragged into the conflict as the Navy's nearest battleship, HMS Cumberland, was two hours away.

The supply ship was ordered to try to slow down the Kota Wajar, which is twice its size, potentially affording Cumberland time to get to the scene.

Wave Knight, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary oil tanker which is part of the Nato anti-piracy fleet off East Africa, was ill-prepared to take on the pirate ship, but pluckily attempted to stop the container capturing the couple.

The account from a crewman, who has asked not to be named, suggests the crew were angry that they were not given clearance to open fire on the pirates. He said they were left 'depressed and frustrated' as the Kota Wajar made off with their captives towards Somalia and they had not been able to save the Britons.

The insider said yesterday: 'We saw the moment they were handed over and were forced to stand by helpless. We did everything possible to save them.'

Given that the Wave Knight is an oil tanker not a war ship, trying to knock the Somalis off-course was highly dangerous.

The sailors also believed the pirates could have had an arsenal of weapons on board.

It is thought the crew were angered when they heard reports that the ship supposedly found the yacht just floating, which they say is 'simply not true'.

The Chandlers were abducted from their yacht in the Indian Ocean as they sailed from the Seychelles to Tanzania in spite of many warnings by authorities and other cruising sailors, who are also reported to be angry that the Chandlers disregarded them.

The couple's whereabouts are not clear from conflicting reports coming from the troubled area, but it is probable that they are being held in a small town close to the coastal pirate stronghold of Harardheere.

The pirates are warring with each other about whether to demand an exchange of the Chandlers for some arrested pirates, or to demand a ransom. While the initial demand was for US$7million, it has been conjectured by locals on the ground that they may accept much less.

Andrew Mwangura, chief officer of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, and with a reputation for correct reporting of piracy in the area, was reported as saying that the Chandlers could be freed within a month, 'as long as profiteers did not get involved in any negotiation.'

Mr Mwangura said: 'They have changed their minds (about the ransom). They realise the Chandlers are poor people.' However, he also said that it was unlikely the couple would be released without some kind of ransom being paid, and this could be within a month.

Four attacks on cargo ships have been made in the last two days, as the Somali pirates continue their onslaught against ships in the Indian Ocean. While until several years ago there were as many Yemeni pirates as Somalis, these days Yemen has joined the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Aden which has made it a 'no-go' area for many ships and cruising yachts.

African based nature protection and human rights organisation Ecoterra reported today that Yemen's Coast Guard has seized eight Somali pirates in the pirate-plagued seas. A spokesman for the authority said Friday the pirates were captured on a fishing boat with two RPGs and small and medium weapons. An investigation is underway as a prelude to turning the Africans over to the judiciary.