Kidnapped sailors' yacht arrives Britain - alone

by Sail-World Cruising on 28 Nov 2009 It was a poignant sight for any leisure sailor.

The orphaned yacht the Lynn Rival, from which cruising sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler were kidnapped last month, was slowly lowered from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship the Wave Knight in Portland, Dorset in the UK.

The 38ft yacht had been carried back to Britain by the ship whose crew witnessed the kidnapping, but did nothing about it for fear of harming the Chandlers in the process, and hence failed to prevent their abduction.

There were 75 merchant seamen and 25 sailors aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment tanker Wave Knight at the time of the abduction.

A further sadness in this story of sadnesses is that the Navy did not immediately admit the fact that they witnessed the abduction, claiming instead that they had found the boat adrift. It has also been reported by cruisers travelling with the Chandlers that the pair were warned repeatedly that their intended course from the Seychelles towards Tanzania was foolhardy.

Yesterday the boat was hoisted off the Wave Knight by a crane and taken away on a low-loader lorry.

Paul and Rachel Chandler are still being held by the bandits who are demanding a £4.2million ransom for their release. Last week they made a direct plea in a video, warning UK authorities they fear the pirates may kill them.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'Every effort was made by the Royal Navy and the international maritime fleet to locate the Lynn Rival. 'We did everything we could possibly do without further endangering the lives of Paul and Rachel Chandler.'

A spokesman for Portland Port refused to comment on the operation to return the yacht, and a Royal Navy spokesman said it was not something they would comment on either.

But the truth is, there's little to say.

The only bright news, a very remote sparkle on the horizon, is that when the Chandlers are finally repatriated, their boat, which is reportedly their only asset, will be waiting for them in good condition - a situation that other kidnapped sailors have not enjoyed.