Superyacht tells of close shave with pirates in Gulf of Aden

8:46 PM Mon 1 Mar 2010 GMT

'Linda Lou' .

Getting to the second Abu Dhabi Yacht Show last month, populated almost exclusively by superyachts and megayachts, was not for the faint-hearted. Coming from the Mediterranean, they had to brave the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden to put in an appearance. On arrival, the crew of the stunning four-year-old Linda Lou told fellow attendees of their close shave while on their way to the show.

Linda Lou is no small yacht - 60 metres in length, built by Lurssens in opulent style , with a top speed of 15.5 knots - but she took going through the dreaded Gulf of Aden seriously enough to take all possible measures to deter an attack by pirates. Their decks were lined with barbed wire, and they had an acoustic device on board to blast the ears of would-be attackers. They even had a safe room to repair to if under attack.

On the day in question, mid-February, after sailing for 30 days on their way to Abu Dhabi, they sighted off the bow what appeared to be a pirate mothership with four heavily armed skiffs surrounding it.

At approximately 3.30pm, the mother ship and the three lightweight skiffs together started their approach to the Linda Lou, positioning themselves so that they were coming out of the sun. The Linda Lou, which was carrying 15 crew, was already part of a yacht convoy travelling with coalition military protection, as is the normal way that vessels attempt to make their way through the pirate zone.

Attack seemed imminent. Captain of the yacht, Michael Schueler, decided to put the women crew into the safe room, and used the VHF system to broadcast their situation. They were responded to almost immediately by a coalition warship that said they would send a helicopter to arrive within six minutes. Captain Schueler then ordered full speed ahead.

A British helicopter gunship, armed with a 50-calibre machine gun, arrived within the six minutes specified, and, on seeing the helicopter, the pirate skiffs retreated from waters around the Linda Lou. Another warship from the coalition force then accompanied the megayacht until she had safely left the area.

The sailing yachts that 95% of the world's cruising fraternity sail cannot muster anything like 15.5 knots, and without that speed and the help of the escorting coalition force based in the Gulf of Aden, the outcome might have been very different.

by Nancy Knudsen

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Superyacht tells of close shave with pirates in Gulf of Aden

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