Somali pirates seize French yacht
Somali pirates have taken control of a French yacht with several people onboard, adding to the spate of recent attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden.
There had been fears initially that the vessel could be a cruise ship but a local source said it was a “small yacht”.
Other sources quoted by the French media indicated that the vessel was a 16m yacht called the Carré d’As which is registered in Venezuela but French owned. It came under attack late on Tuesday afternoon.
It is not known how many people are aboard but the French foreign affairs ministry announced yesterday that there were two French nationals.
The ministry offered no additional information about the circumstances of the hijacking, saying that a certain level of secrecy was necessary for the success of efforts to free the hostages.
It indicated, however, that a crisis cell had been set up in Paris and that French embassies in the East Africa region were involved in the response to the situation.
Condemning the hijacking and calling for the “immediate liberation” of the two hostages, it said, “Our first preoccupation is for the safety of our compatriots.”
The first news of the hijacking came from Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Progamme, who said that a French vessel, possible a cruise ship or a yacht, had been captured in the Gulf of Aden.
“We do not yet have details,” he told Reuters, “but it would seem that there are tourists aboard.”
Later, Hassan Alore, natural resources minister in the breakaway Somali province of Puntland, told French news agency AFP “We have received credible information that a French boat has been intercepted in the zone of the Gulf of Aden and that it is heading for the coastal village of Eyl.”
He said that he understood that there were “several individuals” aboard the vessel and hoped that the French authorities would respond as effectively as they did in April when the CMA CGM-owned cruise ship Le Ponant was taken hostage with 30 crew members.
The ship and crew were only released after a ransom was paid to the pirates by CMA CGM, although the French military succeeded in capturing a number of pirates immediately afterwards and recovering part of the ransom.
The captured pirates were subsequently brought back to France to stand trial.
There had been fears initially that the vessel could be a cruise ship but a local source said it was a “small yacht”.
Other sources quoted by the French media indicated that the vessel was a 16m yacht called the Carré d’As which is registered in Venezuela but French owned. It came under attack late on Tuesday afternoon.
It is not known how many people are aboard but the French foreign affairs ministry announced yesterday that there were two French nationals.
The ministry offered no additional information about the circumstances of the hijacking, saying that a certain level of secrecy was necessary for the success of efforts to free the hostages.
It indicated, however, that a crisis cell had been set up in Paris and that French embassies in the East Africa region were involved in the response to the situation.
Condemning the hijacking and calling for the “immediate liberation” of the two hostages, it said, “Our first preoccupation is for the safety of our compatriots.”
The first news of the hijacking came from Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Progamme, who said that a French vessel, possible a cruise ship or a yacht, had been captured in the Gulf of Aden.
“We do not yet have details,” he told Reuters, “but it would seem that there are tourists aboard.”
Later, Hassan Alore, natural resources minister in the breakaway Somali province of Puntland, told French news agency AFP “We have received credible information that a French boat has been intercepted in the zone of the Gulf of Aden and that it is heading for the coastal village of Eyl.”
He said that he understood that there were “several individuals” aboard the vessel and hoped that the French authorities would respond as effectively as they did in April when the CMA CGM-owned cruise ship Le Ponant was taken hostage with 30 crew members.
The ship and crew were only released after a ransom was paid to the pirates by CMA CGM, although the French military succeeded in capturing a number of pirates immediately afterwards and recovering part of the ransom.
The captured pirates were subsequently brought back to France to stand trial.