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Pirates' threat to kill Britons and 'burn their bones'
Benedict Moore-Bridger and Gerard Couzens28.10.09
Pirates holding Paul and Rachel Chandler today threatened to kill them and "burn their bones" if any rescue attempt was made.
The couple, from Tunbridge Wells, were caught in a tense stand-off in the Indian Ocean as EU naval forces tracked a yacht thought to belong to the couple 200 miles off the Somali coast.
Mr Chandler, 58, a retired engineer, and his wife, 55, were believed to be on board - prisoners of at least six men who stormed their yacht Lynn Rival last Friday as they sailed to Tanzania.
Somali pirate leader Mohamed Hussein said in broken English: "We are telling Britain that any bullet of our friends on the yacht will be big cries for the families of the two old people we hold....any attack on us, this is good advice...otherwise they will burn their two people's bones."
Another pirate leader urged the family to "pay what we ask" although no amount was mentioned.
In a direct plea to the kidnappers, Mr Chandler's sister Jill Marshment said: "If I was to give a message to the pirates, I'd say you've got the wrong people.
"They are not a wealthy couple. They just wanted to take early retirement, to take a boat and see more of the world."
Mrs Marshment said the pirates' threats were "distressing" but what was even more upsetting was the "not knowing" and she criticised the Foreign Office over a lack of information.
Pirates are also holding 36 fishermen on the Spanish-owned ship Alakrana taken four weeks ago. Their leader, Shamun Indhobur, linked the fishermen's fate to the Chandlers, saying: "The men on the Alakrana and the men who snatched the British yacht are from the same group. We have the Spanish ship and this new yacht and we warn the naval forces they must avoid any type of military action because otherwise, if one is attacked, we will punish those from the other vessel."
Indhobur also told the Chandlers' relatives: "We ask their families to contact us and pay what we ask for."
Speaking to Spanish news agency Efe via satellite phone, Indhobur said his men had snatched the couple.
Indhobur told a Somali-based reporter he was calling from Haradheere, the port where the pirates were believed to be taking the couple.
Speaking from her home in Gloucestershire, Mrs Marshment, said the couple would have known about the risk from pirates beforehand.
She added: "I just can't believe it's happening, but it does happen in life, I'm afraid. It's like a bad dream."
Rescue teams searching for the Chandlers are today monitoring a yacht. An officer with the European Union Naval Force Somalia said it had located the vessel east of Haradheere.
Commander John Harbour said one of its helicopters spotted a yacht yesterday towing a skiff, the type of small rowing boat used by pirates, towards the coast.
He said it was too dark to read the vessel's name but its location suggested it could be the Chandlers' yacht, adding: "The helicopter went up to look at some skiff activity in the area.
"The light was just fading. As he was heading across the horizon he saw the yacht. He closed in as far as he could and saw the yacht towing a small skiff, then he had to return to ship.
"We have no confirmation it is Lynn Rival. But we are treating the sighting very seriously. It was the first yacht we've seen.
"It's in the area where we've been looking for this yacht. We have two ships in the area and a helicopter and they are continuing their investigation." The sighting was made at about 3pm British time yesterday.
Commander Harbour said today: "We are not involved in any rescue effort, we are merely monitoring the situation. As far as we are concerned, there have been no threats made to us so we will follow the boat but we are not going in to rescue them."
He said there were 172 hostages on seven ships around the coast of Somalia and their priority was stopping pirates taking other vessels.
"Two people on a yacht is one thing, but when you consider how many hostages there are at the moment, it's impossible to put all our resources into one rescue effort."
Mr Chandler and his wife, an economist, took early retirement and sold their house to fund their dream trip. They have no children.
Their niece Leah Mickleborough said the family had feared "the worst might have happened", adding: "When you hear of things like this you possibly expect the worst might have happened but you always hope that it hasn't.
"You never believe it's going to be one of those things that happens to your family."
Stephen Collett, Mrs Chandler's brother, said the couple had no money to hand over to any captors. "My sister and brother-in-law are certainly not a wealthy couple," he said.
"I think everything they've got is invested in their boat, so if they have been captured then the pirates have got the boat, which is as much as they're going to find really."
Reader views (13)
The way I look at the current situation, there are 3 ways to save mr.and mrs. chandler's life. 1) If their boat and the pirates are still at sea, then our naval forces should attempt a rescue urgently. 2) Find out the amount of ransom demanded and if they have the money, pay them. 3) Offer the boat as payment in return for their safe release. We are are praying for your safe return. good luck.
- Jo, london uk
If you look at their route they went out of their way to stay as far from Somalia as possible.
It's also the only way to get down to Australia etc without going round the Horn which is very dangerous which is why the Panama canal was cut.
The respective Navies really do have to get off their bums on this one and start blowing pirates out of the water to keep shipping safe.
You can't leave it all to the French.
I think when I have to sell my house because of the recession and buy a boat I'm registering mine in France.
- Thalia, London
Historically, the only answer to piracy has been to send in the navy and hit back HARD. After a few pirate ships have been blown out of the water, they work out that land-based criminal activities are much less likely to get them killed.
So why the heck don't all the world's merchant countries get a joint naval task force together, and do just this?
- Nigel, London
How about sending the SBS in, putting tracers on the boats, waiting until all hostages are clear and then blowing the pirates back to the stone age? At least that way they won't be doing it again.
- Bob, Cheam
- Mickinlondon, london
The Americans have already tried "invading" Somalia back in the nineties and got there a*ses well and truly kicked. Pity they never learnt the lessons from Vietnam and continued on into Afghanistan and Iraq.
- Albert Swift, Aberdeen, Scotland
Watching an American news channel last night. The commentator reported that a helicopter had spotted the yacht.He then said that if the yacht had been French the French navy would probably attempt a rescue. As the yacht was British, he doubted that any action would be taken. Says it all really. I can hear the Instructions to any British Navy ship in the area "do not forget that the pirates have Human rights and that we have a duty of care to them"
- Trevor, Southend
We invade Iraq, and Afghanistan, why not invade Somalia?
Once you start paying Ransom’s; you open the flood gates to more kidnapping and hostage taking.
To stop pirates; you need to capture them and hang them; and to do that you need to declare war on Somalia etc; or they will carry on business as usual.
- Mickinlondon, london
Crass antics by 'yachty' people, they've ignored official advice and may have put more lives at risk, there are always idiots who put themselves in peril and expect someone else to bail them out. Presumably if they hadn't have kidnapped it would have been another exiting 'log' entry and a dinner party topic. Also, isn't it about time something was done about this piracy maybe using Q-boat decoys and blow them out of the water, if these pirates were being lost at sea or captured in vast numbers it may make the remaining ones think twice, at the moment it's a booming industry that will be passed down through generations.
- Martin, London
EDITED by admin @ 12.31 on October 28 2009
Breach of community guidelines
- Steve, London
Seems like a nice little job for SBS, but no doubt our toothless government will hide in a corner and American Navy Seals will deal with it.
- Terence Harrington, Canterbury, UK
Do you know, I have to agree with you Albert.
Their dreadful plight aside, how could they be oblivious to the dangers of sailing in that part of the world?
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
Sure they would have been wise to have avoided the area but it is what it is.
I remember the Thatcher Government went into overdrive to find her upstanding son, who we later found out wanted to change the world.
Surely the lives of these two are just as important as his.
- Paul, London
What did they expect sailing in those waters? They should have known better. It would appear that many more lives are now at risk if any rescue attempt is made.
- Albert Swift, Aberdeen, Scotland
