Kidnapped sailors ill and refusing to eat or drink

10:14 AM Mon 16 Nov 2009 GMT

'Kidnapped cruising sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler - there’s some reason to hope' .

A member of the pirate gang who have kidnapped British cruising sailors Paul and Rachel Chandler have said that they are ill and refusing to eat or drink.

The claim will renew concern about the wellbeing of the couple, and comes after it emerged that the crew of a Royal Navy vessel watched helplessly as the couple were taken hostage from their yacht Lynn Rival on October 23.

Despite carrying arms and sailing to within yards of the Chandlers and the kidnappers, the navy vessel did not intervene for fear of putting the couple's lives at risk.

The pirates have since asked for a ransom of ?4.2 million for the couple from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, who were seized as they sailed from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.

It is believed that they became ill from infected food or water. Awali, one of the pirates, said: 'Sometimes they will not speak to us, and sometimes they refuse to eat or drink.

'They have serious health problems. The woman is vomiting often.'

Military officials insisted last night that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment tanker Wave Knight, carrying 75 merchant seamen, 25 Royal Navy sailors and a helicopter, could not have acted without endangering the lives of Mr Chandler, 59, or his 55-year-old wife.

The Ministry of Defence said initially last month that the Chandlers' yacht had been found empty in open waters.

Later it said: 'We did everything we could possibly do without further endangering the lives of Paul and Rachel Chandler.'

It appears that the decision not to intervene was taken by the captain.

After they were taken into Somalian waters, the couple were moved on to a container ship, the Kota Wajar, which had been captured by the pirates. Sources said that the couple were transferred to the mother ship in a very crowded open boat alongside armed pirates, placing them in a 'very dangerous situation'.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'We are monitoring the situation closely. Foreign Office staff are in close contact with the family and offering support.'

The Wave Knight is part of the Nato fleet tackling piracy off East Africa, but the Navy's nearest warship, HMS Cumberland, was two hours away.

It is believed that the couple are now being held in a small town close to the pirate stronghold of Harardeere

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Earlier story (14th November, 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.

Wave Knight - watched the abduction - .. .

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.

by International News/Sail-World Cruising