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Old 06-04-2009, 09:51   #1
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French Yacht - 4 Crew Seized by Somali Pirates

"The French yacht, with four crew, was seized on Saturday off north-east Somalia.

It was being sailed by the pirates towards the Somali Puntland coast, said Kenya-based non-governmental organisation Ecoterra International, which monitors piracy."

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Somali pirates seize more vessels
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Old 06-04-2009, 10:06   #2
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Pathetic. The governments of the world know where the pirates come from, and they are patrolling the high seas when they should be patroling inside the twelve mile limit and engaging the pirates where they live. What do you expect? I just don't get it.
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Old 06-04-2009, 13:21   #3
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UNSCR 1851 (2008) goes a long way in giving the military the ability to attack these pirates provided the "Government" of Somalia has approved it. After all action inside territorial limits or on sovereign territory is the sole right of that sovereign nation. A lot of good people have died to ensure that right is maintained. Unfortunately the Government of Somalia is far from being a strong organisation.

I expect these UNSCRs to get progressively more aggressive, but it will not be quickly.

If the yacht was off NE Somalia, what were they doing that far away from the Yemen coast.

Dont be in too big a hurry to start killing the pirates in NE Somalia. At the moment they are capturing the ships, not killing people.
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Old 06-04-2009, 17:49   #4
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So is it okay to take the boat as long as the crew doesn't get hurt?
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Old 06-04-2009, 19:33   #5
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This is indeed "pathetic", as Dave says. The entire world world with all its vast wealth, spy satellites, phased array radar and advanced snooping devices cant find rag tag bands of pirates and eradicate them? It sounds to me like we are simply not trying hard enough. Start running armed convoys if that's what it takes.
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Old 07-04-2009, 03:51   #6
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A source close to the investigation in France said two couples and a three-year-old boy had been onboard the yacht, called the “Tanit”, which had left in July for the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.

A blog* believed to belong to one of the couples onboard spoke of the risks, with one recent entry saying they had begun travelling with no lights at night.
"We are in the middle of the risk zone for piracy, however nothing to report,"
it said.
An earlier post said: "The danger exists, and it has undoubtedly grown in recent months, but the ocean is vast. The pirates must not ruin our dream."

Goto:
Le voyage de TANIT

or THE VOYAGE OF TANIT:
Translated version of http://tanit.over-blog.fr/
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Old 07-04-2009, 05:10   #7
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I read Davids Old Jerseys link. It has plenty of extra links to click on in the right hand side. Very sobering. At this point trying to run through that area, even with the lights off at night is about as dumb as confronting these pirates with potato guns. These pirates are not only using advanced weaponry, high powered speed boats but GPS, satellite phones, and shore relays. They got this down to a science and improving every day with the great wealth they are gaining through their endeavors. Until those with real wealth, freighter and tanker lines etc., decide to raise enough stink to eradicate these pirates, people who sail this area especially with their families are damned fools.
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Old 07-04-2009, 05:39   #8
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I'm sorry, but what kind of a parent would purposefully take their three-year-old child sailing to a place where they KNOW their are thugs who could cause them harm?

"The pirates must not ruin our dream" ??? Fine for them. They had a choice. Their three-year-old had no choice.

" . . . the ocean is vast." ???? So why not choose a safer spot on that vast ocean? This is just stupid.

This is nothing short of child abuse.

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Old 07-04-2009, 08:18   #9
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I second DavidGC what kind of parents are these? And once they get release they will internationally appear as heroes for doing such a crazy thing....

They should take the boy away from this nuts and let them sail the gulf once more time see if they chase the same "dream"
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Old 07-04-2009, 09:38   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maxingout View Post
Pathetic. The governments of the world know where the pirates come from, and they are patrolling the high seas when they should be patroling inside the twelve mile limit and engaging the pirates where they live. What do you expect? I just don't get it.

I don't disagree with Dave, as I believe we would get more bang for the buck if our naval vessels became the de facto Coast Guard for Somalia and boarded everything coming and going from Somalia to search for contraband weapons. But the harsh reality is the area is simply too large for this approach to be 100% effective. There's some 3000 Km of Somali coastline and the pirates often operate from temporary camps on the beach rather than known ports. There's nothing to distinguish the pirate vessels from commercial cargo and fishing vessels in the region. And the pirates have proven to be adaptable - with the increased presence of warships in the GOA, they've moved to the East coast of Somalia and several hundred miles offshore - as far out as the Seychelles. I don't think it will be an easy task to eradicate them.


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Old 07-04-2009, 10:12   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidGC View Post
... what kind of a parent would purposefully take their three-year-old child sailing to a place where they KNOW their are thugs who could cause them harm? ...
The are French; and according to Florent’s father, they are experienced sailors, penniless, unemployed liveaboards, who knew the risks.

The crew od “Tanit” (Chloe & Florent Lemacon and their son Colin, 3 y/o) were repeatedly warned to avoid the Somali coast before their boat was hijacked on Saturday (April 4/09).

The French military had attempted to warn them of pirates, approaching the boat with a helicopter, the family wrote on their blog, and had also been warned by another couple (Jean-Yves Delanne) who had been kidnapped by pirates in the past, but were undeterred.

The French navy had strongly advised the 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 “Floreal” (surveillance ship) 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 the Tanit crew on March 27 stating that sailing to Kenya was "very dangerous" due to a spike in the number of pirate attacks.

News Report Goto:
France tracking Somali pirates

See their Blogs at:

They continue their journey despite the pirates (page 6)

Translated version of http://tanit.over-blog.fr/5-index.html

Jean-Yves Delanne warns them (page 7)

Translated version of http://tanit.over-blog.fr/6-index.html

3 year old Colin (below)
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Old 07-04-2009, 10:31   #12
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penniless, unemployed liveaboards

Great, who's gonna get to pay the ransom?
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Old 07-04-2009, 10:43   #13
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They are going to be in Somalia for a long time. Maybe they should start taking language lessons and go for Somali nationality.
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Old 07-04-2009, 16:04   #14
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One of their numerous mistakes was using the VHF. RDF would have quickly found them. They even talked of their exact plans on VHF!

Another was to use at least 2 Yemeni ports where their departure could have been reported.

Plus they would not have the money to motor through pirate alley.

I can't see the location of their capture in any of the reports. Have I missed it?
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Old 08-04-2009, 01:58   #15
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Ecoterra International, which monitors seajackings, said the Tanit was seized by some 14 pirates about 390 miles (630 kilometers) from the coastal Somali town of Bandar-Beyla, south of Cape Ras Hafun, northeast Somalia.
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