Somali Pirates Hijack Yacht with Four Americans Aboard

[Wainui]

SOMALI pirates today hijacked a yacht with four Americans aboard in the Indian Ocean, a non-governmental organisation monitoring regional maritime activity said.
Ecoterra International said the S/V Quest was seized in the afternoon 240 nautical miles (275 miles) off the coast of Oman.
"S/V Quest was attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean and the four Americans on board are being held hostage," it said.
"The sailing yacht was reportedly now enroute from India to Mina Raysut, the industrial port of Salalah, Oman," Ecoterra added.
The S/V Quest's owners, Jean and Scott Adam, have been sailing around the world for more than seven years and detailed in a December update on their website what their travel plans would be for 2011.
"Our ports of call will be: Galle, Sri Lanka; Cochin, India; Salalah, Oman; Djibouti, Djibouti; The Suez Canal; and Crete. That gets us to April," the website entry read.




Despite Somali piracy being at its highest ever levels, with more than 40 ships and 800 seamen currently held according to Ecoterra, the US couple made no reference to the threat on their website.
The yacht beacon's position is Mumbai but it was last updated six days earlier and a distress signal was sent from the middle of the Indian Ocean today

[Coriana6jp]

According to Yahoo news the S/V Quest was captured off the Somali coast with four Americans aboard.

Somali mission: Pirates capture 4 Americans - Yahoo! News

I hope they are safe, but with the recent conviction in the US of a Somali pirate, I have a bad feeling.


Garrison

[cchesley]

Sailing anywhere in the Western Indian Ocean is a roll of the dice these days as to whether or not you'll be someone's 'guest'. Personally, I'd sail straight from Western Australia to S. Africa or maybe even eastabout to NZ and Chile. Otherwise it's a bit too much adventure for me!

[Aussiesuede]

I hope things work out for them. Once again I still don't know why anyone would advertise just when they'd plan on going through that particular area? Just seems prudent to stop making position reports in the 3 months prior. Letting them know when, and where, you'll be transiting seems like an unnecessary risk.

Welcome to s/v Quest Adventure Log

[atoll]

god works in mysterious ways,
thoughts and prayers with the crew of quest
,hopefully they will evangelise the somalis so they can see the error in their ways....
stranger things have happened.....

[Randal Johnson]

I was across the dock from S/V Quest in Cochin, India before his departure. I spoke to the owner about the piracy issue. He told me he was headed for Mumbai and then would assess the situation then. I believe Quest was part of the Blue Water Rally Group.
At the time I spoke to him I shared our plans of going all the way up to the 22nd parallel before turning west. After attacks were made near that latitude we decided to ship our boat to Turkey from Male, Maldives.
In the conversation with Quest's owner he said he was 70 years old. I saw the other people on the boat but did not get a chance to speak to them as they were preparing the boat for departure.
I hope they are freed soon.

[simonmd]

Wow, must be scary to hear that such a thing has happened to someone you met recently. I guess the question you posed in your details to the left has been answered!

This just reinforces that going near that part of the world is just not a sensible option anymore. Such a shame as there must be many ports and communities suffering from a lack of visitors because of this sort of thing.

[svBeBe]

S/Y Quest was a member of the Bluewater Rally. They left the marina in Cochin a few days after we arrived, en route to Mumbai and then Salalah. Quest departed Cochin several days later than all the other Bluewater Rally boats and was sailing alone at that time. I do not know if they met up with other rally boats in Mumbai.

BBC News - Somali pirates seize American yacht crew off Oman

Location of capture is 18N 61E. Cannot fine more specific waypoint at this time.

Judy
S/V BeBe
Amel SM2 #387
currently in Cochin, India

[cdennyb]

I dont care what you say about me... those people and anyone else who courts disaster by even sailing within a thousand miles of any pirate attacks deserves the outcome. Yes, too bad for them, yes, hope they get released soon, but lets be realistic... dumb is as dumb does.

[markpierce]

I gave my advice several months ago on this forum: stay away from pirated areas. Seems like nobody listens.

Hope the victims survive their troubles.

[svBeBe]

Originally Posted by Coriana6jp

According to Yahoo news the S/V Quest was captured off the Somali coast with four Americans aboard. ........
Garrison

They were captured quite a long way off the Somali coast ..... roughly 240NM off the coast of Oman near latitude 18N. Maybe Yahoo news needs a chart.

Judy
S/V BeBe

[svBeBe]

QUEST was part of the Blue Water Rally which is the most experienced rally through these dangerous waters...sailing from India to Oman has never been more dangerous...last year it was the GoA, today it is the IO.

The problem is that piracy is the only big money-making industry in Somalia. Insurance carriers for the large ships continue to pay and point the finger at governments and governments, like mine, continue to point the finger at the insurance companies and the people who transit these seas.

I say, give the navies of the world a free hand to solve this problem and the problem will be eliminated...how many US Marines do you think it will take? The answer is a finite number and the mission is achievable with minimal casualties...unfortunately our politicians want a guaranty of zero casualties from our armed forces...hopefully we could be that lucky, but no amount of skill or planning will get us to "guaranteed zero casualties."

It takes guts to make a decision to solve this problem.

I am not sure that exists. A few minutes ago I read a story about QUEST that was titled: "Somali pirates hijack yacht of U.S. couple on Bible mission." Why do you think the LA Times did this? QUEST is on the same mission that most of the members of this group are. Someone somewhere wants to change the message so that ignoring these so-called bible-toting missionaries is OK. I wonder who in government asked for this favor?

Can you tell I am pissed?

BTW, we have elected to spend a lot of money to ship BeBe to the med from here.

Best,

Bill
s/v BeBe
Amel 53
Currently Cochin, India

[storyinframes]

around a fortnight back inian coast guard and navy in 2 separate operations captured 2 mother ships, (which were hijacked thai fishing vessels), 50 somali pirates, and phenomenal amount of weaponry.

the pirates are in judicial custody.
now guess what!!!
Somali government had the audacity to write to indian govt to kindly return all the pirates so that they can be tried in somalia>.
they are afraid of miscarriage of justice to the pirates held in india.

[svBeBe]

Originally Posted by markpierce

I gave my advice several months ago on this forum: stay away from pirated areas. Seems like nobody listens.

I am "listening." I have always hated hearing, "I told you so." I am really tired of people making postings like this when they do not know what they are talking about.

Most Circumnavigators are 5 years are more into their plan when they reach the Indian Ocean. The piracy dangers change monthly. For instance, piracy is 13 times greater this year for the period of Oct - Feb than the same time last year.

Additionally, it is a real problem for most Circumnavigators to turn around and go the other way.

When we started in 2005, piracy was not a problem unless you ventured close to Somalia. Last year the IO was not a problem.

Those that understand what I am talking about, understand. If you do not understand, please do not lecture those of us that do understand and are dealing with it.

BTW, we have decided to ship BeBe from the Maldives to the Med, avoiding a sail through the IO and GoA. The cost is the mid $30's. It is not affordable option for everyone out here.

Best,

Bill
s/v BeBe

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

QUEST was part of the Blue Water Rally which is the most experienced rally through these dangerous waters...sailing from India to Oman has never been more dangerous...last year it was the GoA, today it is the IO.

The problem is that piracy is the only big money-making industry in Somalia. Insurance carriers for the large ships continue to pay and point the finger at governments and governments, like mine, continue to point the finger at the insurance companies and the people who transit these seas.

I say, give the navies of the world a free hand to solve this problem and the problem will be eliminated...how many US Marines do you think it will take? The answer is a finite number and the mission is achievable with minimal casualties...unfortunately our politicians want a guaranty of zero casualties from our armed forces...hopefully we could be that lucky, but no amount of skill or planning will get us to "guaranteed zero casualties."

It takes guts to make a decision to solve this problem.

I am not sure that exists. A few minutes ago I read a story about QUEST that was titled: "Somali pirates hijack yacht of U.S. couple on Bible mission." Why do you think the LA Times did this? QUEST is on the same mission that most of the members of this group are. Someone somewhere wants to change the message so that ignoring these so-called bible-toting missionaries is OK. I wonder who in government asked for this favor?

Can you tell I am pissed?

BTW, we have elected to spend a lot of money to ship BeBe to the med from here.

Best,

Bill
s/v BeBe
Amel 53
Currently Cochin, India

I think you are preaching to choir Bill. But I don't think it's about zero casualties. I think it's purely financial, too much money for a few cruisers. Too many bigger budget problems.